We ordered the caterpillars without telling Abigail, so when they arrived both she and Naomi were really interested to see what was in the package and when she opened it, she was so excited!
Inside there were three tiny caterpillars in a pot of food ...
... but they didn't stay small for long. Over the following 48 hours they grew so big so fast, even quicker than the last batch!
It wasn't long before they migrated to the top of the pot and begin to transform ...
Once all three were ready, we transferred them to the Butterfly Garden and then the waiting game began!
It seems that these butterflies were in a hurry to fly. They sped through each stage and before we knew it, only days later, were ready to be released. While Abigail was reluctant to let them go, she was also excited to see them fly!
She was so gentle with them and her gentleness paid off because the butterflies weren't in a hurry to fly away ... they were quite happy to experience the 'outside world' just perched on her finger. This particular one stayed there for about 5 minutes!
They were so friendly that a couple of them let us pick them up again after their initial fly around and transfer them to the flowers in the front garden. The fact that no other butterfly since has allowed Abigail this privilege has frustrated her greatly ... but hasn't stopped her trying!
And then all we had left were three empty shells ...
It was fascinating and so much fun that we may do it one more time before we move to Tanzania ... and we even bought one as a present too. This is just one of the many things we've been getting up to this summer!
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