Friday, May 22, 2009

More On Vlad

There may have been a couple of unanswered questions about Vlad, the one-horned fuchsia-eating caterpillar. Here's a quick update:



Where is the caterpillar in this picture??

It turned out Vlad had already eaten his fill once he devoured the fuchsia in the garden. As soon as I added dirt to his jar, he burrowed right in. It would have been nice if he'd let me know he wasn't hungry before I snipped a few remaining leaves for him. Sheesh.

It was nice of him, though, to leave a little peep hole for us so we could see what he was up to:




It doesn't look like he's up to much, although melting down and transforming into a whole other creature is quite a feat. I've read that these guys sometimes stay underground all winter. But since it's only spring, I think it'll be more like 2 or 3 weeks.


My son was a little disappointed that he didn't get much of a chance to get to know Vlad as a caterpillar. Something tells me we may be repeating this little experiment...

I have to say, so far Vlad has been a lot less trouble than Swamp Thing.

15 comments:

Kimbra Kasch said...

Love the name ;)

Anonymous said...

Vlad looks fat, sassy and happy;)

Ara Burklund said...

You're a good mommy, Adrienne. I've banned all creepy-crawlies from the house after several jars wound up going mysteriously empty.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

He sounds like the perfect pet.

Unknown said...

Sleep Vlad and hopefully, spread your wings soon!

Bish Denham said...

A trouble-free pet for sure! I hope your son gets to actually see him emerge from his sleep.

Anonymous said...

You definitely need to post a "after" photo for this make over.

Debbie said...

What a great mom you are! That is nothing but fun:)

Anne Spollen said...

I still laugh when I see that name - it's SO perfect.

Rena Jones said...

Good luck with Vlad. Too bad we didn't live closer -- Vlad and my Sea-Monkeys could be friends. :)

ICQB said...

Wow - how did you know to add dirt to the jar? I would have been waiting for him to turn into a chrysalis hanging from a twig or something.

Happy makeover, Vlad!

LW said...

OH, I do hope we get to see Vlad all grown-up…


Louise

Adrienne said...

Hi everyone! Still keeping our fingers crossed for some happy after photos!

Ara - That's funny and scary!

Rena - Vlad and the Sea Monkeys...sounds like a band, or a kids' morning show, maybe... :D

ICQB - I thought they needed sticks, too! My son tipped me off that some burrow underground, so we did a little reasearch. Obviously he has spent some time studying the bug books...

Kelly Polark said...

Hi Vlad, wonderful to meet you! :)
My daughter caught a caterpillar today and has it in a jar. We are all guessing if it will be a moth or a butterfly and several all silly guesses including a blood sucking mutant butterfly.

Adrienne said...

Kelly - Good luck with your caterpillar - part of the fun is trying to find out what it is!
I'm hoping it's not a blood sucking mutant... :-0