Chuck had set the trash out at night for early morning pickup, which did not happen in the early morning for some reason. When Cullen and I went out to the mailbox, this guy was hiding and sleeping just inside the lid of a cardboard box intended for the trash truck. He did not try to fly away when we moved him, but he did squirt a nasty-looking liquid from his hind parts in an effort to repell us. Well, it was repelling, but we were more persistent. He looked so furry, I wanted to pet him. Cullen was not inclined to touch the moth in any way whatsoever!
He is an Imperial Moth. I think of it as male, though I really don't know. Their adult life span is only a few days - emerge from pupae, find a mate, lay eggs if female, then die. They don't even feed as adults!
We let him crawl down and under the edge of the box to hide, and we left him there. We talked about the possibility that he might be hurt or just old and dying. Cullen said, in that case, maybe it would be best to let a bird come eat him. If his choices were to stay here hurting or go ahead and get eaten by a bird, well, being eaten would be better. "That would be healthier."
Well, maybe healthier for the bird, I told him!
2 comments:
Wow..I'm pretty impressed with Cullen's grasp of the life cycle.
That is a very neat looking moth! And your son's reasoning is priceless! Thanks for sharing, and thanks for visiting my blog. I have enjoyed reading through yours also.
Blessings, Melissa
www.homeschoolblogger.com/melissal89
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