Our Science Experiment

Our friend and neighbor, Miss Mary had given a caterpillar to the boys on Palm Sunday after finding him at her house. We read some articles on the internet about how to keep caterpillars and then made him a simple habitat in our dining room.

We watched as a couple days later he spun his cocoon. He started one evening and completed by the next. (this pic was the morning after he had started)

Several weeks later as I was getting something out of the closet, I happened to lean in far enough and turn my head toward the wall when I saw what I thought was a huge bug. I'm not usually a sissy about bugs but this looked like quite a large one and startled me. I asked Ry to get it and he said," Thats not a bug it's a moth...probably the one you've been waiting for from the cocoon." I thought he was teasing me for sure. I went to look carefully at the cocoon that we were planning to cut open and examine the next day since we really thought something had gone wrong. I was amazed to see a tiny opening I hadn't noticed before.

He had stayed inside for more than two weeks and when he came out he was (not) a beautiful butterfly. (I couldn't resist a little Eric Carle reference:) Thankfully our research had prepared us to expect that our Woolly Bear Caterpillar would turn into an Isabella Tiger Moth. Jayce was a bit disappointed because he really wanted it to be a butterfly but it was a fascinating process to observe none the less.

We saved the moth overnight and set him free the next morning. But only after "tender heart Ty" shed tears and told him goodbye. Then, I had to laugh as I heard him call to Jayce with his voice quivering, "Jayce, come say to the caterpillar---Bye."