Xavier's First Ladybug Release
Greetings to all.
Sunday, Rebecca bought Xavier a bag of 1500 Ladybugs. The weather all week has not made scheduling a release convenient. However, we had a break late yesterday morning. After the early ER trip, this was a nice treat.
A mesh bag served as the container for the Ladybugs. All week, they have been just hanging out in the bag, not too active. After all, the temperatures were cool.
That changed the moment I handed the bag over to Xavier to examine. The bugs seemed to know freedom was at hand! A Ladybug army 1500 strong raced to the top of the bag.
The sudden activity startled Xavier, who handed the bag back to Dad. We set the bag on top a small clump of I-dont-know-whats planted by the house's previous owner. This proved a solution Xavier found acceptable. He could observe safely from afar.
The release excited Xavier. He watched intently as the Ladybugs marched out of the bag and onto the plants. He took it all in from several different angles, getting closer to the bag with every re-positioning.
Eventually, curiosity took over; he just had to touch one of those little red crawly things. That led to needing to handle the bag.
Peering down through the top of the bag as more and more Ladybugs marched did not produce the results Xavier had imagined. The beetles crawled over his hands and onto his shirt, something Xavier did not like at all!
He tried shaking out the bag, then he dropped it and ran for cover between Dad's legs. When he looked down at the sidewalk and saw two beetles walking toward him, he felt the need to distance himself further. I've never seen Xavier get so flustered by anything.
Still fascinated, Xavier did creep closer to the plant we replaced the bag upon. With some moral support from Mom, he found the courage to almost touch one of the Ladybugs again.
All in all, a fun thirty minutes. And, it turned out to be a shared family moment; even Lena got involved.
I know that over the next few hours, I pulled up one pant leg or the other to discover a Ladybug crawling there. Apparently, Dad was not as careful as Xavier to keep the bugs at bay.