What is it doing?

Okay - yesterday I took the caterpillars back to Maddison's class and while it was there (up out of reach!) the big caterpillar came out of it's cocoon and started spinning another one!

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This photo was taken about 10.40am.

At 2pm it looked something like this.
The smallest one was still hanging out upside down!
When I went to bed last night the big caterpillar was still working away spinning.
And at 6am this morning it was outside it's cocoon again!
I am a bit concerned about it. Lyndon wondered if they were a bit cold. So we have put them outside in our laundry area (it's quite warm out there! - like 35 degs!!). So hopefully they haven't been harmed being too cold.

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The big one has started in a half hearted way spinning again in the corner.
The little one hasn't changed position at all!
And the one already in it's cocoon looks like this.
Hopefully they will "perk up" this afternoon! Hoping too that the big fella hasn't run out of webbing!

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Lyndon got back from Singapore last night :-) I got such a surprise when he walked in the door with this ...

Oh my what a spoilt girl! :-) :-)

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So I am off to play with that! I will be sure to let you know what I think of it heheee ;-)

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During the Night ...

Last night about 11.30pm I took some pictures of the caterpillars (and the "raccoon") hehee before I went to bed.

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The one in the cocoon was like this. He looks much the same this morning except maybe a bit browner.

The smallest caterpillar was enjoying chilling upside down in his new home (I got a smaller container for him/her yesterday). He/she hadn't moved at all when I checked this morning! It is breathing though :-)
The big fat caterpillar had been very busy yesterday working away making it's cocoon.
This morning at 6am it looked like this.
At 7.30am it poked it's head out!
7.40am started putting it's webby stuff all over the side of the container.
8.10am - still working away. I could actually see the very fine thread coming from it's mouth here. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth it's going!
9am - I took them to Maddison's school again so they could watch what was happening (so exciting for them!) :-)
10am - I just received an sms from Maddison's teacher to say it's come right out of the cocoon and is spinning away on the outside! hahaa Must go and take some photos :-)

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I suspect (I could be wrong), but I think it's come out because little people are touching and moving the container, tapping on the side etc! It's decided it needs a much sturdy, stronger home! Very hard for little ones to just watch unfortunately! Their little fingers just happen to keep "accidentally on purpose" touching the container!! Sigh ... poor caterpillars.

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I have a "raccoon" in the house!

The middle sized caterpillar was extremely busy during the night ... he turned into a "raccoon"! hehehee ;-)

When Aaron saw the cocoon this morning he wanted to tell Daddy (Lyndon is in Singapore this week). So we phoned him (and woke him up hehee) and I heard Aaron say:

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"Hi Daddy, one of the caterpillars has done a raccoon and it's going to turn into a butterfly"! :-)

You can see here that it's attached itself to one of the dead leaves as well. It's still very busy inside moving about spinning it's cocoon - it's head is going back and forwards, back and forwards!
The smallest caterpillar was very busy chomping it's way through a leaf.

Still can't believe how fast they eat!
Maddison wanted to take them to school again today to show her "fwends". I took some photos before I left and noticed that the smallest one had started making webbing on the branch.
And the large one had been busy in the night too ... it's webbed all over the back wall and on some of the leaves. So I suspect there might be 3 "raccoons" by tomorrow morning! :-)
I sure hope that whether they are moths or butterfly's they are going to look a whole lot prettier than they do as caterpillars!

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They survived their time at school ...

But I have NO idea what one of them is up too now!

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I cleaned the container again this afternoon because one had started doing the webby thing again and I wanted to put some dead leaves in the bottom. I managed to clean it without disturbing the one making the mess ;-)

I was out this morning and I stopped on the way home at the trees where I got the caterpillars from to gather some dead leaves. I bought back an old cocoon so I could show the kids. There were lots on the ground and you can see it's used an old leaf to wrap around it's body - pretty clever aye! Doesn't need to spin so much ;-)

Here's some of the dead leaves I gathered.
Interestingly enough (there's 3 different size caterpillars in the container) it's the middle size one that's started this web (for want of a better word). The large one has just been a pain in the neck! It's been disturbing the middle sized caterpillar and messing up the web that's all over the side of the container. The middle one spend AGES going back and forwards under and over checking out it's web in the corner where the large one had pulled it on the wall.
Then the large one came along and messed it all up in the centre! Here's the middle sized one inspecting the damage!

Very serious business this checking! You can see the large one peeking out behind the leaf!
So far it's not taking any interest in using a dead leaf to wrap itself up. So will be interesting to see what's happened over night!

Did you know ...

that caterpillars stink? Well they do! It's probably got something to do with their extremely large poops and also today's smell was worse because one of the caterpillars had died during the night (I think it had been pecked by a bird before I picked it up :-( ). I also didn't really think about cleaning their container when I collected them! Having a caterpillar (or 3) as a pet is a serious business! :-) Their cage needs to be cleaned every day ... and yeah I guess that's my job!

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So this morning we discovered one caterpillar had died during the night and another had started spinning cocoon fluff all over one corner ... not sure if you can see it in this pic or not. It's the hazy stuff.

The caterpillar didn't seem to be wound in it at all though and because the container stunk and had several piles of debris in it (including dead one) I pulled it all off so I could clean it thoroughly. The interesting thing was when when I pulled it off the side of the container it (the web stuff) went lifeless straight away. It was very interesting. Kind of changed colour as well, wasn't bright white anymore. The caterpillars were very well behaved while I cleaned their container this morning and didn't roam about all over the place! ;-)

This time I put a jar in there with water for the leaves so they don't wilt so quickly.
Here's the smallest caterpillar munching on a leaf ... they are machine eaters I tell you! They devour a leaf so fast!
Maddison asked to take them to school today ... was quite cute to see her with her friends studying them :-) I asked the teachers to text me if one started doing it's cocoon thing again because I want to take photos :-)

Hope the caterpillars enjoy their outing today and don't get stressed by so many little eyes watching and fingers bumping the container! ;-)

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