Writer Lady - All Comments

re: A new litter of critters

writer lady — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:18:21 GMT

Things aren't going well with the caterpillar project. I transported the three caterpillars home in a paper bag, careful to carry it with me while I ran errands rather than leaving them in the hot car. Well, one of them got out, so I got home with only two. The larger of the two created his cocoon within 24 hours, but the next day it dropped to the bottom of the cage, meaning it's dead. The second caterpillar built its cocoon on one of the sticks we put in there, but there's been no change, and frankly, I think it's looking a little shriveled. Back to the nursery.

Anyone have ideas on another critter project for a little boy. Please exclude anything reptilian.

re: A new litter of critters

willburns1 — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:50:14 GMT

I had a tank full of tadpoles once they all died about the time they got legs. Then the tank smelt like death.

re: A new litter of critters

mike — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:30:14 GMT

My dad used to sometimes catch huge moths that were about to lay eggs. We would keep the eggs and raise the caterpillars to adulthood. We raised Luna, Cecropia, Polyphemus, and a few others. We would put them on a plant they would eat, and they would always sit right on the plant. We kept them inside most of the time because birds will make quick lunch of them outside. We kept a large, wide plate under them to catch the droppings. They really are just eating machines and they go through so much greenery. It only gets worse as they get bigger too.

We had one huge litter of Cecropia moths one year. These are the biggest moths in North America and their caterpillars are no slouches either. They grew to be bigger than a fully extended finger. By the time they were close to metamorphosis, they were collectively eating about a 4 foot tall tree every day. It was worth it to see so many beautiful moths emerging from their cocoons and spreading their huge wings to fly off into the night.

re: A new litter of critters

parker — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:06:19 GMT

I must say that you will go above and beyond for your son. There is no way I would be willing to potentially have any toads in my house.

Can my pesky armadillo move in with you?

re: One step forward. Two steps back.

mike — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:58:20 GMT

When it rains it pours, doesn't it? I've had whole months like that before. Sometimes things happen in our lives for a reason and sometimes that reason is simply to have a really hard time so we rethink things and change the course of our lives.

I had a week where my car broke down and it took 2 days to drive home from my vacation, then I got home to find my TV was messed up and everything was now green. The next day I went to the dentist and he overdosed me on novocain and almost killed me. The next day I was still sick from the shock the day before but I had a tryout for a job as a lifeguard. My body responded badly to the added physical stress of the tryouts and I spent most of the time vomiting in the bathroom. Then I got word that the TV repair guys had broken the TV completely and wouldn't fix it or give us a refund. Then I found out the car would cost about $2,000 to fix. I spent the rest of the week fighting the virus I had been sick with the whole time, but hadn't even noticed because I was generally feeling so bad. It was a rough week.

re: Sometimes you need good news

Cae — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:16:37 GMT

I have no idea where this summer has gone or where I've been while it's been going! It's been one of those years, I guess. Sorry things have been rough for you. It seems to be like a cold that's being passed around! Been rough at times for me as well, and others I know. But as they say, it's always darkest before the dawn and all that. (I'm kind of starting to not like those phrases anymore.... lol.) Just keep hanging in there and take a bath (with lots of bubbles!) when you can. Try to find some happiness in the everyday stuff that DOESN'T fall apart. You'll find so many blessings hidden in those times. :-)

re: Sometimes you need good news

mike — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:33:39 GMT

Ahh finally something good in the news. That lion reminds me so much of my old dog, Fudge. He was about the same size too. He used to jump up, put his paws on our shoulders and barrel into us just like that lion.

It's amazing that a wild animal like that would remember so well. I'm also surprised at how much faith the guys had in letting such a huge wild animal charge up and pounce on them. That's an amazing story. Thanks for sharing it.

re: He's just a tadpole

emcee christmas — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:30:15 GMT

feeder mice! haha!

re: When the war becomes personal

emcee christmas — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:17:30 GMT

thanks for sharing this with us, writer lady. it sounds like your nephew is really suffering--i hope when he comes home you and his parents can encourage him to get treatment for the psychological effects of his tour.

re: When the war becomes personal

Blogette — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:30:48 GMT

I'm sorry to hear about your nephew's crew. It doesn't seem like we are doing much good over there.

re: He's just a tadpole

writer lady — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:25:55 GMT

Thanks, Amore. Jack and I just came back from a 4-day weekend out of town together (sans Daddy), and I'm so in love with my boy right now--and he with me!

We were both amazed by the tadpoles when we got back last night. Of course they're bigger, but their body shape is also changing, their eyes are visible, their bellies seem to be lightening in color, and some of them seem to have little leg buds.

They're doing fine in the aquarium for now. I put about 7 gallons of pond water and a big clump of algae into a 15-gallon tank. Every few days, I take out a little of the "used" water and replace it with a gallon or two of the "fresh" pond water.

Later this week, I think I'm going to add another 5 gallons of water to accommodate their growth. It's probably also time to think about adding something for them to climb or hop onto outside of the water, and when that time comes, I definitely need to screen the top somehow.

My husband and I have both had nightmares of "The Invasion of the Frogs." This fear might be especially vivid for me because as a kid I lived through the invasion of the praying mantises, thanks to an older brother. I have to take the blame for invasion of the little white mice--a friend and I took pity on a bunch of feeder mice at a local pet store, bought them all, and then tried to hide them in her dresser and bedroom closet.

re: He's just a tadpole

WomCub — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 06:58:47 GMT

I think that activities with living creatures is a great way for children to keep busy.

Will the tadpoles be able to live in any aquarium, or do they need special conditions?

re: He's just a tadpole

Amore — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:23:48 GMT

Jack is lucky to have a mom like you!!!

re: He's just a tadpole

mike — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:55:57 GMT

I used to really enjoy keeping tadpoles as pets and watching them turn into frogs. There's something so special in a child's eyes in watching such an ugly fishlike creature turn into an active and cool-looking frog. I hope he's not too disappointed if these grow up to be toads. It's hard to tell at this point but they act like toad tadpoles usually do. You may want to help him get used to the idea of only keeping a couple of them. Feeding all 50 of them crickets and bugs won't be an easy task.

re: Defenseless

writer lady — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:47:00 GMT

Thank you, Parker. I've talked with other people who say their parent became very sweet--maybe that's the next stage for my mom, too.