Sunday, August 19, 2007

Caleb's new pet



I went in the front yard to tend to my Petunias on friday only to find every single last flower dead! (That's another story in and of itself though... i'm a little upset with whatever is killing my flowers.) Anyway, i found a little green caterpillar and I thought, "Caleb would love this!" So, I found him to show him. He took right to the little bugger and wanted him for a pet. So we got a bowl for his cage (which later turned into a tupperware with a lid) and gave him some grass and my very last petunia to eat for a snack. Lo and behold, in that petunia was a baby caterpillar. Caleb was ecstatic! Two caterpillars! A mom and baby! He went around saying "A mom and baby! Cute! Look a mom and a baby!" A little while later he comes up to me and says, "Look mom, they're hugging!" A feeling of dread came over me as i tried to decide how to tell him what i was thinking. I finally just spit it out... "Honey, i think the mommy is eating the baby..." Caleb: "No, she's hugging it! Mommy's don't eat their babies." So, i let it go. A few minutes later he says "Actually, I think the mommy is eating her baby... Why would she eat her baby?" Hmmm... what do you say to that. Sure enough i look in the "cage" and the baby is half gone. And half there. Yuck. We had a good lesson on the circle of life that night. I also learned that caterpillars, at least not ours, don't eat apples. What is that book "The Hungry Caterpillar" teaching us anyway? Ours only eats petunias. Lots and lots of petunias.

4 comments:

Melanie said...

Jonathan and I are laughing out loud. That's hilarious. You handled it so well, Lindsey. At least you didn't explain to him that some human mommies like to eat their placentas after their baby is born... Now that's a funky. Oh, that blessed circle of life. :)

courtneyb said...

that is so funny. he is so cute and innocent. he brought the caterpillar over here and it was quite a hit.

Katrina said...

Ha ha! That's hilarious! I never knew caterpillars were cannibals.

Saun and Wes said...

My petunias are all gone too. The flowers are all dead, but the plants look green. Did it freeze one night? Not likely...it's way too hot in Utah. Poor wormy!