"I really should put a net over Greeny's pupa," I've been saying for the last fortnight. "I'll do it soon. At least before he hatches."
Well, we all know how this one ends.
This morning I decided that enough procrastination was enough, and I was going to put a little net over his egg-carton accommodation to capture him if/when he hatched. And, predictably, this is what I found:
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| "Greeny is risen!" - "He is risen indeed!" |
See, this here is what we call a "Fail." Sure, I'll spin this somehow: "Greeny has hatched while we weren't watching and flapped off to live somewhere, in the trees perhaps, and he's very very happy there ..." and the discarded pupa will go to school for Show and Tell (which will be a relief because it looked like this week's Show and Tell was going to be a doorknob, an implausible story involving a mattock and a few bits of broken door,) but still.
I could easily have not procrastinated on the net and have Greeny the Moth to show the children this afternoon after school. There could have been a triumphant release and the children could send him off with fond wishes that he may parent many babies, much to Sue Ellen's completely justified horror and disgust.
But instead, Greeny seems to have hatched and hidden himself inside somewhere and isn't making himself easy to find. If we do find him, it could still end poorly as I'm reminded how easy it is to crunch the life out of a child's beloved moth by the simple action of shutting a door.
Somehow, I knew the Greeny story wasn't going to end with the completion of the Life Cycle loop. Jolly Greeny.
Greeny Part 1: "Greeny"
Greeny Part 2: "Goodbye my larva, 'tis time to pupate"
7 comments:
Ooh, linked! I've made the big time. ;)
Meanwhile... Greeny roams free in the wild, living the life he was meant to live. You'll probably be waving at every single moth in the garden for the next two years. "Look! It's Greeny! Doesn't he look happy?"
When in reality, he's probably in here somewhere stuck in some cobweb that I haven't got down because I am hopeless, hopeless enough to let Greeny hatch and escape in the first place.
Best life cycle ever.
I wonder if the dead ants suggest a complete demise?
Not sure, Penny. The dead ants, I'm hoping, seem more to do with the plague which came inside during recent rain and is now dying all over the place after I put some ant baits out for them. It was just mysterious to have them appear in Greeny's spot at the same time he disappeared.
By the way, I always *meant* to bury Greeny as you recommended, but that was one more thing I didn't get around to. Sigh.
Oh my goodness how life would be different if all of the "I meant to"s were "I did"s. And really, not necessarily for the better! Your life cycle is awesome--everyone needs a little magic in their lives.
What a great mom! I enjoyed reading all of your "greenie" posts this evening.
But I still can't help but wonder about the dead ants...Was he a super powered moth that actually eats INSECTS? Perhaps you have discovered a new species of pest eating moths!
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