Monarch Caterpillars!
We found them on some milkweed along our nightly walk route, so we brought 4 home, with some milkweed, and set them up in a very large glass jar. This morning, I got to witness one of the greatest miracles I've seen, the biggest caterpillar (We called him Bubba) forming his chrysalis before our eyes. It was such a cool thing that I had to blog about it. Of course, we don't have a video camera, so here are 2 short video clips from youtube, the first showing the egg hatching, growing, and getting ready to form the chrysalis, and the second one showing the chrysalis emerging from the caterpillar. It is an unbelievable thing to see. How anyone can watch this and still think that we all evolved from a blob and figured out how to do this stuff without the benefit of a Creator is beyond me. I mean, really. Do you honestly think that somehow, caterpillars decided it would be a really cool trick to change into something else, and then figured out, on their own, how to form this chrysalis (from the inside of their body) and change themselves into butterflies over the course of 7-10 days???
Video #1 - Egg to caterpillar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j-Nvjmiiqg&feature=related
Video #2 - Caterpillar to Chrysalis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPk1SRk0UOs&feature=related
Oh, and there was a second "miracle" today. I cleaned out the jar today, and filled it with fresh milkweed, with some water at the bottom of the jar for the milkweed. One of the caterpillars fell into the water, and as we (boys included!) watched, the thing struggled to get out of the water, but failed, and sank down into the water, still. After about a minute, I figured we should fish him out so that he didn't rot or anything in the jar. So, I fished him out, and was looking at him in my hand, kind of feeling bad for not saving him (honestly, we figured he would get out of the water himself since there was a milkweed stem right next to him. It didn't occur to me that he actually needed saving).
So here I am, looking at this pathetic, seemingly dead caterpillar that I let drown. I don't know what came over me, but I started rubbing my finger back and forth over the darn thing, and wouldn't you know it, after a minute, the caterpillar started moving slowly, and gradually started crawling around again looking for food. Just call me the Caterpillar Saver!
2 comments:
Nice story. Pastor R Cryder might like to hear the details of this. Nice job! Dad
What a fantastic experience for your precious family! And the bonus was reviving that fallen feller! We'll have to call you the "Healer"! Way to go!
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