The Newest Member of the Family, 2

I found one of these nasty little guys a few days ago and just knew that he would be adored by my tomboy girls. I popped him into a great big jar along with a ton of leaves and figured they would enjoy watching him crawl around and eat 50x his weight in greens every day. Well, it was short-lived because he almost immediately built his cocoon! It was really awesome to watch the fat, neon green guy become a fluffy tan puff in the corner of the jar. The girls check on him everyday and sometimes Beatrice carries the jar around the house when I'm not looking.

I did some research and discovered that he's probably a polyphemus moth. They stay in their cocoons for about two weeks, so check back with us then to see if he survived the transformation! I'm really hoping he will!!

Featuring a Toad

Toads have been a popular item around the house lately. With spring they are coming out in droves, but they've been little guys up to this point. This big daddy showed up in the flower bed and entertained everyone for quite a while.

There are very strict toad rules the girls have to follow - no holding toads by their legs or arms, no running or jumping around a toad, no hiding the toads in a receptacle they can't escape from (after a toad spent the night inside an Easter Egg under a tree and lived to croak about it!), and the toads all have to be named. The girls added the last rule.

Perhaps there is still a chance we'll have a Herpetologist in the family!!

Mr. Silky

Our Guinea Pig is slowly becoming accustom to life here at the Keehn house. He comes out to eat when we're at the table eating, too. He doesn't scrabble so hard to get away from me when I pick him up. The girls know how to pet him, how to pick him up, and how to avoid stepping on him - well, pretty much. They also love to feed him sprigs of timothy hay, which he nibbles with piggy delight.

Since the weather has gotten nice, we take Mr. Silky out on our most excellent front porch. He's free to run around and get a little exercise. He's still a little nervous with all that space, though, and spends most of the time hiding under our feet or racing back and forth along the wall as fast as he can go squeaking and oinking and looking for someplace safe. He's hilarious!

Maggie loves him. I think he likes her, too. As you can see. He's almost smiling!