New Pets in the House!!!

This has been the week of collecting new animals from outside and calling them our new "pets."

1.  About a week ago, Courtney caught a grasshopper and called it her own.  This is something that happens every fall. Courtney will catch a grasshopper, feed it, and keep it alive until about December The problem was the first grasshopper she caught this year died within 24 hours. Courtney was so sad. :) But lo and behold, Matt caught her another one the same day! This one is about twice as big as the one that died and it is nice and healthy because it poops a lot! (According to Courtney!)

2.  Last Monday when we were out at my uncle's house after my grandpa's funeral, one of my brother's reached down into the grass and pulled up a hornworm.

 

My brother had recently taken an entomology class and knew exactly what it was. He was going to go put it behind the barn where it wouldn't get stepped on, but I stopped him and said, "Courtney would love that worm!" So he put it in a glass and we brought it home with us.  He said that we should put it in a bucket and give it 2-3 inches of dirt, rice krispies, etc. anything that it can bury itself.  He said they will go into a cocoon and come out a moth.

 

We gave it about 3 inches of rice krispies and at first, I thought he was dead because he stopped moving, but that is exactly what they do.  He is now turning brown, which means we will have a moth in about a month. So exciting!

 

 

 

3.  Yesterday Megan and Matt were out for a walk and when they came home, they presented Courtney with a katydid.

 

 

Now her grasshopper has a friend! But at first, we didn't know this was a katydid and she thought it would eat grass, just like her grasshopper. Courtney was kind of confused because it wasn't eating the grass like the grasshopper! After some research, we found out what it was and that it does NOT eat grass, but rather leaves. She fed it a leaf and it ate it up!

 

4.  Tonight Matt and Courtney were outside playing some baseball and Matt saw a praying mantis crawling across the driveway. Matt caught it right away and now we have a third insect in the mix.  Except if we would have put the praying mantis in with the grasshoppers, they would have been its lunch!  So instead, Matt and Courtney went off to the pet store to get another terrarium and some crickets for this guy (I mean lady, as we later found out!)

 

 

 Courtney was all excited about this praying mantis and it didn't even bother her that they needed to buy crickets to feed this insect.  Matt said she was doing well with it all until the way home. It was then that she realized how "cute" the crickets were and did NOT want to feed them to the praying mantis.  She was actually in tears by the time they got home. (We caught a praying mantis when we were in Gettysburg, PA last year and watched him rip crickets apart while they were still moving!). 

 

Matt didn't feel so bad about it, so he dumped the new crickets and the praying mantis into the terrarium and the praying mantis got to work.  They bought six crickets and there is only one left in the terrarium as of now.  That gal was hungry!!

 

I don't know how long the praying mantis is going to last here, we either need to let him go or buy more crickets at a time! I don't know how long Courtney will be able to stand it either!

 

5.  Last, but not least, we have our red beta fish, named James, who has been a part of the family for awhile and doesn't eat anything alive or take any real effort!