the next infestation started here

These photos were taken at the end of July. Earlier in the summer, we had found a caterpillar outside and kept it in an aquarium in our home, feeding its voracious appetite daily with leaves from the trees in our backyard. We never thought much of it other than if we were lucky, it would someday form a cocoon, transform into some winged insect, and then we'd let it go, proud that we were witness to such an amazing transformation. Early in July, some good friends - Tammy, Todd, Sam & Matilda - who happened to be originally from here came to stay with us. Tammy took one look at the caterpillar, identified it as a gypsy moth and proceeded to tell me how when she was in second grade, her entire class took it upon themselves to convince the community that the gypsy moth caterpillar was going to destroy the environment, which at the time was seriously the case. While being the cause of the next insect plague disturbed me, I wasn't too worried considering I had little faith that we would actually be able to keep this caterpillar alive much longer (we could barely keep Elliott & Maddie fed & bathed regularly).

We didn't have an actual cover for the aquarium other than some window screen taped on which Maddie removed daily while attempting to interact with the caterpillar ("No Maddie, you can't kiss the caterpillar." "Maddie I don't think the caterpillar needs a hug right now." "Maddie leave the caterpillar alone!") So of course, a few days before Mali was born, we discovered that the caterpillar had gone AWOL. The thought of a caterpillar loose in the house might have been disturbing, but with Mali arriving soon, I just convinced myself it was dead, cleaned the tank and was done with it. My in-laws were in town to help out with the kids and the idea of freaking my MIL out by taunting her with the idea that our little friend would show up in her bed did cross my mind, but again, serious changes were about to happen in our household soon & I needed everyone focused. And luckily, we all forgot about it.

Days later, Mali was born, we came home from the hospital, life went on, and then one day, Dan & the kids woke up and went downstairs to find a gypsy moth drying off its wings on one of the kids chairs. He actually made it! We found his cocoon under the bottom shelf of the unit holding the aquarium (why we never thought to look there when he first went AWOL is beyond me). The kids were so excited & I was impressed that we actually got it thru three major stages of life. I was also a bit relieved that 8 months from now, Mali wouldn't be putting a dead caterpillar that she found under the couch in her mouth. With much celebration, we took him outside for his release into the wild. Rochester, our gift to you. The next gypsy moth caterpillar plague. It all started here.