Over the past few weeks we have had a lot of monarch caterpillars in our class. Fiona decided to save them from her swan plants at home; there were a couple of hundred... at least. After a week or more the food had run out, so the caterpillars were forced onto a diet of pumpkin and zuchinni; Fiona also read that only 5-10% of caterpillars in the wild survive to become monarchs. Unfortunately by this stage it was too late... we were committed to saving them!
It has been a tough life for the caterpillars in our class. We have given many away and we wished them well on their life journey. For those who remain in our class, we have observed them and have now come up with a list of life's lessons. Enjoy!
- When you're breaking the law, don't get caught on camera!
- Watch other caterpillars and learn from their mistakes.
- Make some friends before you do anything else, they might come in handy one day. (Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer!)
- Eat or die.
- You can take a risk and be a brave explorer; you might find just what you've been looking for... or you might just be squashed by a giant shoe!
- Eat, eat, eat. Poop, poop, poop.
- Find yourself a good safe place to build your home!
- We all begin life as cute wee caterpillars before going through an awkward phase and emerging as beautiful butterflies.
- Keep out of harms way and don't go picking fights.
- Live to eat, or live to be eaten?
- Use words to solve your problems, not violence (and especially don't attack your own kind!)
- You gotta do what you've gotta do to survive in this world!
- Don't be fussy, eat what you're given.
- Don't drink and climb!
- Galliant food hunters.
- Don't leave your waste lying around!
- Never trust a stranger!
- We all look kind of the same, but when you look closer we all have unique characteristics that make us different and special.
- Climb to live, live to climb.
- Not everything is edible.
- It's a caterpillar eat caterpillar world out there. Danger is everywhere, beware!
- Be careful out there because no one else wants to clean up your mess!
- Sometimes you need to pause in your pursuit of happiness and just BE HAPPY!
- Life is hard and it isn't always fair!
- Trust your instincts.
- Never ever leave the box and pursue your dream as an adventurer; you will probably never find your box again or a new food source, but those big hairy giants, with strange faces will pick you up and may kill you.
- You can work hard in life, but still, only a few make it to the top; you need hard work, perseverance and a lot of luck!
- Never give up, because there's no reason why you can't be in the 5-10% of caterpillars that make it to the top!!!
