Obsessions

The beginning of this summer brought with it an utter fascination with worms.  It didn't end there!  The remainder of the summer has been filled with shrieks, giggles & wonderful discoveries.  Not to mention the continued comments from me "NOT in the house!"  Every day there has been some unfortunate little creature to collect, forceably confine and scare out of it's little exoskeleton!

There were butterflies, many of which were lucky enough to escape to the air.  Then it was minnows, when we went anywhere there was a creek.  The kids would hurry and eat up their packed snacks so they would have containers to collect them in.  I also remember quite a collection of slugs out in the backyard.  What a treat it was to look out and see so many slugs doing the equivalent of bungee jumping from the deck railing by their slime trails.  There they were dangling,... trying desperately to get away from their rather rough and very curious captors.  Our family cats just watched from their perch inside the house, relieved to have a break from our oh, so spirited kids.

 One day the kids were playing around our Juniper bush.  "I found a caterpillar!"  I look to see what their latest find is.  "Oh an inch worm!" I love those, very cute and interesting to watch walking.  Then they found another, and another, another,... oh my!  The kids had a full tray of wriggling little green inchworms!  There were literally hundreds, possibly thousands covering our juniper bush!  When I looked closely it seemed there was more green on our bush that was inch worm, than actual plant!  OK, they are no longer cute!  They are a menace!  The kids were most disappointed that we declared war on their newest "pets".  

  On our many hikes out in the nearby foothills, mountains, or local parks Grasshoppers were a much loved delight!  My boy was forever catching them and displaying them with pride.  On one particular hike the grass seemed to be alive everywhere we looked there were Two Striped Grasshoppers hopping this way and that.  Many were right in the middle of the path, clearly laying eggs deep in the dirt.  After going an entire summer grabbing these little creatures with no injury incurred, my boy discovered recently that grasshoppers have very strong jaws!  Ouch!  LOL!  Point for the Grasshopper!

It seems we did not kill off all of the inchworms as there has been a second infestation of tiny little moths in our juniper bush.  Seems like we have a veritable science experiment going on just outside our door!  I suppose that statement is somewhat stating the obvious.  Moths proved much harder to catch and didn't seem to live long once caught.  Surprise, surprise!

"Uh, Mom!  I think you need to come see this."  I am thinking: Do I have to?  Oh No Aphids!  Our brand new Quaking Aspens in our backyard were completely covered in aphids.  Where are the ladybugs when you need them?  A couple of weeks after we had to rescue the trees from the aphids.  Guess who shows up?

 Ladybugs, by the hundreds!  We had the kids taking every lady bug they found to the trees in the backyard.  We now have quite the army of lady bug soldiers munching happily on those little sapsuckers!  The aphids have now grown wings and are completely covering the bark of the trees all around town.  The bark seemed to shimmer from the many moving wings.  The trees are speckled with red dots.  Lady bugs having a feast!  Quite fascinating to watch.  The kids come by their interest in bugs honestly.  I still love to investigate them.

 

The ladybugs continue to be an endless source of fascination and fun for the kids.   They gather up bunches of the ladybugs and take them for bike rides in their basket.  You only need observe the many yellow streaks in the basket to appreciate how the ladybugs feel about the situation!  The other day my big girl came to me at the bus stop with a closed hand saying "I have a present for you Mommy."  "OK, let's see."   As she opened her hand she revealed a hand FULL of terrified little lady bugs.  Many flew away to relative safety while others chose to crawl in every direction from the center of her palm.  Wow!  What a site to see!

The kids have sure loved all the creatures they have encountered.  Granted,...some of them to death.  I bet our kids are some of a select few who routinely check and document the grills on the front end of vehicles to see what kind of butterfly species they may have acquired on their journey.  This summer we have been assured that our wish to instill a LOVE of nature in our children has been well and truly accomplished.  Now if only we could get them to listen...  ;O)