Jabba the Worm

Sometime in July I went out to check on my grapevines.  I noticed one branch of one vine had a lot of missing stuff.  Upon closer inspection I found a big fat green worm.

At first I thought it was just a tomato worm.  Seemed rather strange to find a tomato worm on the grapevines but this is Missouri, things are crazy out here!

I took a stick and tried to coax the fat worm from the vine.

The little beast reared back and started spitting acid everywhere.

Whoa.

I told you things in Missouri are crazy!

Rabbid tomato worm!

I got a second stick and began trying to pry the monster from the grape vine.

The bugger had a grip on the vine like nothing else.  He was not going to budge. 

 He kept striking at the sticks and spitting acid all over the place.

No more Mr. Niceguy from me-- I got tough with him and pulled him off the vine.

After all of that he decided he would like to hold on to the stick then.

He must be a teenager worm.

Jabba was brought up to the house and put into a jar to live next to Heimlich.

After a few days of eating every leaf we could stuff in the jar with him, Jabba got very still and started turning red.  We were a little worried about him.  Twice I thought he must be dead so I took him outside and dumped him out of the jar but then he'd start moving again so I'd put him back in the jar with some food. 

(hey, before you lecture me on torturing the poor creature, 

you spend some time with a fat, nasty, green worm spitting acid at you 

and then tell me you wouldn't do the same!)

Within the week, Jabba had made a dark-colored cocoon at the bottom of the jar.

The kids and I are now making bets on which of the worms will hatch first.

Meet Heimlich

Since we moved to Missouri I have had hopes of finding a luna moth caterpillar.

We have seen luna moths from time to time.

We have lots of walnut trees all around us.

But for all these years I have yet to find a luna moth caterpillar.

Until now.

I was out by the barn one day, looking for pieces of old wood.  I walked past a young walnut tree that is growing by the barn.  I happened to glance toward the ground at the base of the tree and noticed movement.  I looked a little closer and there was Heimlich crusing along in the grass.

Heimlich crawled onto a stick for me and I brought him into the house 

to live in a nice jar (just what every caterpillar dreams of).

Within an hour, Heimlich had crawled to the top of his stick and wrapped some leaves around himself.  As we watched over the next few hours he made a silk-thread-like cocoon inside the leaves and that was it.

Now we're waiting (will probably have to wait until next Spring) for him to become a "beautiful butterfly".