Mutant Monarchs Revisited

They hatched! It was a lovely day in the neighborhood...woke up a little bit later than usual and ended up missing the part where they came out of the cocoons. *sigh* Oh well, we were able to watch their wings start to straighten and dry. After 4-ish hours, they were starting to take short hops around the butterfly enclosure, so we took them out to the front yard and let them loose.

When the monarchs made it up to the top of the enclosure, they were willing to climb up on our fingers. And, of course, upon seeing that there were two monarchs (alas, one of the other caterpillars in the enclosure ate through the third cocoon...ewwww), each of the bigger nomads claimed one as their own. So, Capt'n Crash's monarch took off after just a couple seconds of being perched on his finger, while Pumpkin's monarch took so long in taking off that Pumpkin even got bored of it being perched on her, and I got a turn. Then I got bored and tried to put it on a bush, and that is when it finally took off. Here's hoping it found an energy source quickly!

Pumpkin wants me to order caterpillars to put in her enclosure. I am just not keen on the idea though: bunch of caterpillars eating prepackaged food out of a cup and growing until creating their cocoon and eventually flying away as butterflies...but what type of plant do they eat? Are they suited for the area, or are they going to hatch out and not find the right kind of food? Plus, there is not as much caretaking in the prepackaged caterpillars, and my nomads would get bored with seeing a bunch of caterpillars hanging around a cup. Woohoo. So, not this year dear. 

Busy Hands...

Well, that's how I feel anyway, even with as tired as I am. I suppose I should say "busy chauffeur/snackmaster/shower monitor" instead? The town here has a summer program...two weeks of classes per session. We just wrapped up Session I...Hurray!!! Ah, but the nomads are highly disappointed that we don't wake up and start running. Arts & Crafts was the chosen class. I suppose it's because we travel so much over great distances that I don't like to travel much wherever we're bunked down at? Anyway, what fun was had!

Capt'n Crash had a marvelous time! Oh, the piles and piles of crafts that were brought back to be lovingly placed in Mum's hands. Paper sunglasses with foam stickers, lanyards, painted suncatchers...but this one...this hat...has stayed in a certain young man's possession 100% (I think it must be extra special).

See? Googly eyes! Wings! Stripes! It's a bee! Thankfully, no stinger. Can you imagine the torment that would cause to his sisters?

And so Arts & Crafts is over.
.
.
.
.
.
But Swim...Ah yes, Swim continues. Two more weeks. I have to admit...the kids enjoy themselves...the lifeguards are quite outnumbered though, so it's more of a closely-supervised free swim than anything else.

Capt'n Crash putting the moves on his Swim teacher

(he seems to make sure that he's close to her whenever possible...I'm not sure that she's noticed yet)

People out here actually stick around for their kids' lessons! Not all, mind you, but a fair number. So, I happily sit in the bleachers and converse with adults for two hours while the two older nomads alternate their lessons, the smallest reserving her time for building grand waterways (aka pits) in the sand under the bleachers ($3 for hand trowel, garden rake & bucket...one just can't go wrong!) and eating whatever she can dig out of Mum's purse (don't worry...I hid the chocolate!...that's another story though.). Then, off to the house for lunch and showers (Pumpkin is deathly afraid of her hair turning green from the chlorine in the pool. I think it would go well with her skin tone, but she doesn't see the humor in that.)

Did you catch that though? I actually converse with ADULTS!!!! I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do after Swim is finished.

Oh, that's right...another misadventure!

Nature! It's Everywhere!!!

So we took an extended weekend to go visit family in Texas. Ah, Texas. Land of cowboys and wide open spaces. Or, in the case of the nomads, Land of the Wii. Yes, I let them play. And I have sworn off ever bringing one of those contraptions into my home (although I might concede if it were just the activity games...that cute jogging-after-a-puppy game is adorable and makes my nomads move). However, one can only take so much Indiana Jones and ensuing temper tantrums when a certain nomad's turn is over. *sigh* I digress.

There was actually a lot of time spent outdoors! Of course, I'm chalking this part up to Physical Education:

No sunburns! Woohoo! Pumpkin was quite diligent in reminding me several days in advance to add sunblock a lot so that she wouldn't get burned. Of course, that day, I had to remind her, but she was more than compliant to get slathered up (ah, if only the other nomads felt the same way).

We did get a bit of a surprise over the weekend...our very first sighting of wild Texas Brown Tarantulas! Unfortunately, my camera was not in my pocket (I usually try to keep it in my pocket for those I-only-have-30-seconds-for-this-shot moments). The fabulous contributors at bugguide.net, however, have LOADS of Texas Brown Tarantula pictures! Here's one:

The first one was small, a few inches in diameter. Sadly, a slightly-older boy knocked two of its legs off with a stick before the adults and the nomads arrived. Pumpkin was rather upset by this (as were most of the rest of us). She wanted to keep it and help it, but with the amount that we travel (and the part where we frequently stay with family and friends), I told her it wouldn't be a good idea. Uncle D explained that it was young and it was a TEXAS tarantula, and needed to stay in Texas. She actually accepted his explanation better than mine. However, when our travels are over, she has been promised the opportunity to have her very own tarantula (a Rose-Haired).

The second Texas Brown we found was just a couple feet off of the back porch, heading toward the porch furniture. It was somewhat larger...perhaps 8 inches in diameter? I did discover that if you push it backward with a cell phone, it will go back for about two seconds and then charge. I'm not sure that Pumpkin and I have ever levitated before, so that was a first! We tried to be very quiet about it, so that the older boys wouldn't see it, and Capt'n Crash actually managed to quietly ask Uncle D for a bucket so we could move it. Uncle D was impressed by it, and then decided to torment his sister by chasing her around with the spider bucket. Pumpkin was concerned by this until I explained that they were siblings. It was then deemed as okay (oh dear, what this might mean for future sibling interactions!).

Capt'n Crash was not to be outdone, however, and came tearing into the house proclaiming that he's found a "widdew spider":

He was quite thrilled that he had discovered a spider all by himself! It was too dark for me to get a positive identification on it, but still...the thrill of discovery!

On the way back from Texas, I found this interesting (although the Nomads and Duke were rather "eh" about it):

Can you name that cloud formation? Heck, can you pronounce that cloud formation's name? Lemme tell you, it's fun to get the nomads to try! "Cue-u-low-nim-bus"

I have more pictures from last week, but haven't the time to post yet. So while this post really should go after my next entry, I just had to get that spider sighting up!

Swamp Critters

The quest was on...find a terrapin before July 4th. The town hosts a "turtle race" (although only terrapins are allowed...misuse of the English language perhaps?) on the 4th of July here with prizes for the All-Champ Sprinter. Pumpkin hears "turtle race"...I hear "prizes". Unfortunately, I also hear a terrapin clawing away at the shower door at all hours of the nights. At least we think it is a terrapin. It's not like any of the pictures of terrapins that I have found. In fact, it looks more like a red-legged tortoise, but with clawed, webbed feet. Much like our Mutant Monarchs, perhaps this is a deviant of nature. Musings aside, he's fast...woohoo!

This handsome fella (or gal) has broken out twice since we installed him/her in the shower (the spare shower...no toes getting nipped off here please). In the time it takes to haul out the uneaten food (last night it was a strawberry and a half-eaten minnow), s/he can get over the stall lip and 3/4 of the way out the bathroom. Gooooo Speedy!

Cute, eh? Yes, fabulously non-cuddly! A rather persnickity eater too. Doesn't like store-bought tomatoes and broccoli, but enjoys strawberries, worms, crickets (except for the hind legs...kinda creepy to find little cricket legs tossed about the shower floor) and...

minnows...*fish heads, fish heads, roly-poly fish heads*.... For some strange reason, s/he always starts with the head, then eats the rest of the body later. Icky, yes. but I kind of understand...I always hated eating fish that was staring back at me too [Sidenote: Yes, Second Mom, I still have nightmares of eating trout that was staring back at me from my plate...thank you for providing salad...the lettuce made a lovely cover...now if it could have just covered your son's mouth: "NOOOoooooo!!! Don't eat me!!!!!!" Good times, right?]

Ah, but the turtle/tortoise/terrapin is not the only Swamp Thing in the house...Pumpkin is the proud (very proud) caretaker of three lovely little tadpoles!

While we were unable to watch any hatch out of an egg, we have been able to watch the slow progression of itty-bitty tadpoles into rather large tadpoles (one in particular). The largest now has tiny little back legs which it does not yet use, but which cause the nomads to stare intently at the derrieres of the other two tadpoles in anticipation of their little back legs appearing. I'm sorry tadpoles, there is little privacy in this house. 

Mutant Monarchs & Other Multi-legged Critters

Oh what a colorFULL place to be! The skies are a lovely blue, and virtually everything on the ground is GREEN! Farmers are on at least their second, if not third cutting of hay, the wheat harvest has begun, and we had a lovely surprise of finding monarch caterpillars this week! After digging around, we found our Butterfly Pavillion that we've been carting across the U.S. for the last two years and it finally has some legit tenants! Three monarch caterpillars decided that a weedy vine in this backyard looked pretty good and after being supplied with copious amounts (fresh 2x a day!), we now have two cocoons, with (hopefully) a third not too far behind! We had spent time at the Monarch Gardens in Pismo Beach two winters ago, and remembered that the only thing that monarch caterpillars are supposed to eat is the milkweed plant. So we're somewhat confused, but delighted with our find!

In only two hours, these little "J"s become fully-cocooned! Pumpkin has been spouting the term "chrysallis" for hours!

Pumpkin also managed to dig up this interesting character from under a board:

Not sure yet what it is. Our field guide doesn't have him listed. A little smaller than the fully-pudged-out monarch caterpillars, he is ALWAYS on the go. All three nomads have stood by the pavilion just to watch him do laps. Pumpkin didn't find him eating anything, so we're not sure what leaves to put in the pavilion and, at the rate he's bustling around, I'm not sure how long he's going to last.

But beyond caterpillars, we have an interesting, albeit rather terrifying (for some) house guest:

She is a fishing spider, approximately 6 inches in diameter. How do we know she is female? Because she doesn't have boxing gloves (swollen pedipalps)! Nice to know that spider sex identification is easy! Anywho, she shed her skin a day after we first found her (about two feet to the right of the back door), and Pumpkin snatched it up before her siblings had a chance to shred it while fighting over it. The level of detail in the shed skin is fantastic! Who would have thought that I'd get to the point that I'd hold a spider skin? Still not to Pumpkin's level though: she enjoys having a certain friend's Rose Hair Tarantula crawl around on her. *shudder* 

Ah...bugs!