Alright, so this whole “caterpillar holidays” thing. Sounds like a nice, chill time, right? Watching little critters munch leaves, turn into butterflies. That’s what I thought, anyway. Decided I’d give it a go last summer during my break. Seemed like a simple enough project, a bit of nature in the backyard.
So, I got started. First job: find some caterpillars. Went poking around the garden, checking leaves. Took longer than I expected, to be honest. Finally snagged a few. Looked all innocent and slow-moving. Big mistake underestimating them.
Next up, housing. I grabbed an old fish tank, cleaned it out, put in some twigs and fresh leaves from the plants I found them on. Thought I was creating a little caterpillar paradise. You know, give ’em a good life before they took flight. I even made sure to get what I thought were the right leaves. Read somewhere they’re picky eaters.
Picky doesn’t even begin to cover it. Some of them just turned their noses up at my five-star leaf buffet. Or maybe it was the wrong kind of leaf entirely. Who knew? I was just guessing half the time. Swapping out leaves, trying different stuff. Became a full-time caterpillar chef, pretty much.
And these guys, they poop. A lot. I mean, constantly. Cleaning that little tank turned into a daily chore. So much for a relaxing holiday project. It was more like running a tiny, very messy, very demanding livestock operation.
Then came the disappearances. One day, a caterpillar. Next day, poof! Gone. I swear, some of them were tiny Houdinis. Searched everywhere. No sign. Did they escape? Did something get in? Still baffles me. Made me paranoid about the lid. Was it secure enough? Was I a bad caterpillar guardian?
I did have a couple that actually made chrysalises. That was pretty cool, I admit. Felt like a win. Waited and waited for the big butterfly reveal. One of them hatched! Saw it fly off. Okay, that part was worth it. Just that one. The other one… well, it just stayed a chrysalis. Forever. Another mystery of the caterpillar holiday.
So, yeah. My “caterpillar holidays.” It wasn’t the peaceful, zen experience I’d imagined. It was messy, a bit frustrating, and a lot more work than I bargained for. Learned a few things, though. Mostly that nature’s tough, and caterpillars are surprisingly complicated. And maybe next holiday, I’ll just stick to reading a book.
