?, ? and ? munching on milkweed
Last fall I raised two monarch caterpillars named Maddowpillar and Lambchop. This week my daughter and I found three more caterpillars on a tiny patch of milkweed (which somehow escaped a weed whacker) near a church fence in Nutley, NJ. They are nestled in a shoebox and munching away.
There is a big difference between these new, nameless caterpillars and the ones we raised in the fall. Monarchs go through four generations in a year. These little guys are part of Generation 3. They will become butterflies in a few weeks, then they will only live a few weeks after that--just long enough to find mates and lay the eggs for Generation 4. That generation is the one that does something miraculous--they migrate thousands of miles to Mexico, hibernating for the winter, then flying back north again to lay the eggs for Generation 1.
So, these three have a big responsibility--to raise the generation that keeps their species alive. Help me name them, will you?
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Aethelred the Unready is out. I'm guessing those future monarchs are getting pretty good counsel.
Moe, Larry and Curley! (-;
Reince and Priebus and Romney for their affinity for caterpillers, and problems with those from Mexico.
William and Kate for the big ones obviously.
Love butterflies! We have huge butterfly bush in yard and lots of butterflies come to eat!
Skeezix and Gristol.
Continue with the MSNBC Theme...Melissa, Harris and Perry. =]
Fred and Ethel, for the big ones.
Edmunch (the one on the middle)
Melharper (the one on the right) PS: I do enjoy the MHP on the weekends :)
Mr. Hayes (the one on the left)
Fast and Curious would be pretty awesome.
Show. Your. Papers.
I also think "Published Author Meghan McCain" and "David Vitter LOL" have certain rings to them.
One should be called Garnish, because they are not for eating!
oohhh we have Monarchs too! But we don't name them. We don't have swords little enough for the naming ceremony.
Clever names all! I am going to be serious and recommend Nancy (Pelosi), Susan (B. Anthony), and Sojourner (Truth).
Colbert and Stewart and Maher
First, the most obvious choice...from the infamously bizarre "war on caterpillars" - Reince Preibus-terfly (pre-butterfly...get it?).
His Royal Highness Scott Brown ('cause he secretly meets with kings, queens, & prime ministers, don't you know?)
And, finally, the perfect name for ANY creepy-crawly...Newton Leroy (AKA "Moon-bat")!
Cato, Pilla, and Ditto!
How bout: PappaMaddow, MammaMaddow, & BabyMaddow...
How about Danae, after the mother of Perseus? She successfully saved her son and herself after being locked in a trunk and cast out to sea. And he turned out pretty good. Also, Perseus and Andromeda, who legend said were the parents of Mycenaean civilization.
Mittapillage for the hungriest one on the (ahem, right).
Hillapillar for the other large one (not apparently eating).
Barrapillar for the littlest one, who has a lot of catching up to do.
Scratch the third one, try Krohn'sgrownapillar for the 17-year-old Jonathan Krohn who at age 13 was the darling of the CPAC conference that year and now rejects that stance and has embraced several Obama initiatives, including the ACA).
Farfel, Rover and Spot. If you remember Farfel, then you are old, old and old.
N-E-S-T-L-E-S
Nestle's makes the very best
Choooooooooc-let.
Farfel as a Nestle spokespuppet/dog predates (1955-1965) the 35-year-old continuing boycott of Nestles for unethical promotion of infant formula in third-world (read African) countries. So ya gotta be a boomer to get that one.
Shirley one must be named for our buddy Scott Brown..since he knows so much about hanging with kings and queens.
I had a project raising monarchs over a summer about a zillion years ago. Was fun. Well..not that part about getting up every morning to harvest about 10 gallons of milkweed. But it held the interest of the sci museum's summer kids and was a great media draw.
Wynken, Blynken and Nod
Rachel Carson, Audubon, E O Wilson - Three of the many who have tried to make us understand that we share this planet with other species just as important, or more so, than us.