Monday, September 3, 2007

Nature Study

Yesterday the kids found this in the backyard. They weren't sure what it was but figured it was related to a grasshopper. With a confused look on her face, Elena asked me if it was a brown grasshopper. I looked it up in my handy dandy Handbook of Nature Study and we learned all about the katydid.
The kids gathered up leaves and a few flowers for their new pet, Thumbelina the Katydid. Maya quickly removed the back legs so he couldn't hop away, thus forcing him to be their pet. (This is a trick she learned in Liberia. Apparently kids make pets of hopping creatures all the time in hot Liberia.) I just raised my eyebrows and kept my mouth shut as she told me about the surgery she'd just performed.
After breakfast this morning, the kids ran outside to check on Thumbelina, who was practically right where they left her, handicapped as she was. In the past hour or so, they've played with her, built a house and fort for her, created a mini-swimming pool for her. . .
One katydid = hours of fun! Who knew?

3 comments:

Bubba said...

GREAT fun. It can also be very noisy.

Tama said...

Does it still technically classify as an insect with only 4 legs? Might want to check that handy dandy handbook on that one?
Thanks for the chuckle. Gecko the horney toad has provided hours of entertainment over in our yard! (Not to mention cat TV) Too fun!

A mom of many said...

Cute story!
Tina Fyre