Until... she showed me her two maggot-y worms that she got in school. She told me all about the life cycle of her soon-to-be beetles. I told her that that cup was NOT going in my house. I don't like worms. I told her that we could keep the cup outside. Her eyes welled up with tears as she told me that it would get too cold for them or either a bird would get them. Hmmm... she was right. So, I reluctantly allowed this styrofoam cup of maggot worms (okay... technically they are mealworms) into my house - as long as nobody messes with the plastic cover and rubber band keeping the cup sealed.
Have I mentioned that I was NOT thrilled about these things in the house?!? They have suppressed my appetite more than I'd like (try eating chicken noodle soup with a mealworm trying to figure out how to get under a rubber band and out of its cup).
Well, the worms had been growing fine. I would occasionally put a piece of carrot in there (the food of choice, Grace informed me). This morning, I checked on these things... still sitting in their cup on a window ledge. Nothing. No movement. Nothing.
If you know me AT ALL, you will know that this really devastated me. I don't like worms, but I really didn't want them to die. ESPECIALLY since Grace was SO excited! I dreaded telling Grace. So, after dinner (yep, I put it off almost a whole day) I finally told her that her worms had died. We went into the kitchen and she wanted to see the cup. I went about doing something else and heard "No, mom. This one is moving its legs." WHAT?!? Sure enough. It is alive. What is even more, when I lifted the plastic for Grace to put another piece of carrot in the cup, the other one is still alive TOO!
So, as much as I DO NOT want worms in my house, I am certainly glad that THESE worms are okay. Looks like I'll have grand-beetles in about two weeks! And then they really will be out of the house! Grace has already told me that she can't wait to set them free.
4 comments:
I am still laughing. Melissa, do you remember that "worm" that you had to kill on the patio? The one that was wildly wiggling to the point that it was airborne part of the time. You were a basket case but because you had to face it one day, YOU had to stop it from scaring us all to death. Maybe I'm the one that made you hate worms so badly but it might just be a genetic thing. Your grandmama (Harris) did not like worms. She could handle snakes and spiders but not a worm! I've had to kill snakes, especially ones that I nearly stepped on. The last one of these was beside the patio. I was hobbling in with the cane this summer and almost stepped on the darn thing. Dad used my cane to kill it! IT was just one of those little ground snakes (one size from mouth to tail, brown with a pink underbelly) but it died just the same.
Also, you already had a grand-butterfly. Remember "Grace the blue butterfly" of the summer of 2006?
GRACE the butterfly wasn't blue. i thought it was orange.
i could go with out the picture but it is kinda neat for Gmama to see the worms turn into beetles. pretty neat science project, gross but neat. I remember taking in a katie-did to first grade. we kept it for a few days, then set it free in the bushes out the front of the school. DO they have a class pet? fish tank? something?
they have a new store your husband would LOVE in raleigh. called the fish tank. a huge store full of salt and fresh water tanks with lots of pretty fish. made me want a tank!
oh it is just a worm. if one had escaped, either dixie or raleigh would have caught and eaten it. and its just a beetle, not a spider egg sack!
so how much longer until they get to the beetle stage of their life? i remember you telling me about these things forever ago!
and... i'm glad to know she is happy about setting them free. guess she doesn't realize that a bird will eat an adult beetle just the same as a larvae... maybe in this case what she doesn't know won't hurt her!
I am thankful that she didn't come home with a spider sack... it would have turned into a "can the egg sack float in Clorox?" project
But... these 'worms' now have legs, so I am guessing that they are moving into their next pupae phase.
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