Eck! Ew! Grrr! I discovered three caterpillars eating my thyme seedlings this weekend. I shudder in disgust as I write this. But what I’m even more suspicious of is that Alex acted quite fond of the green eating machines. Until I discovered what a Kater, the German word for male cat, Alex really is. He has to be. He played with these insects in fascination before he sent them to their demise. But I couldn’t suspect him for very long. Alex defended the little creatures by saying they develop into little butterflies. After he said that, I half expected him to let out a high-pitched ‘awww’ as I glared at him and the plump squirmer gently squeezed between his thumb and index finger.
So Caterpillar No. 1 – Alex wanted to keep. So we put him in a separate container with a little Thai basil. The next morning, Cater No.1 didn’t eat much of the basil, but he wasn’t starving either. Picky thing. I watered the balcony plants and combed the thyme again. There was another one! I sucked in some air in horror. There was even more damage. As I danced around huffing and puffing, Alex came outside and this time threw Cater No. 2 over the balcony. Cater No. 1, lethargic from the basil, followed suit. I’m grateful that Alex took care of the problem eaters, but I guess he felt bad for them. Alex justified his action by thinking allowed, ‘they’d eat sometime downstairs and still become butterflies’. Very cute. I took one last check and found one more. I can’t imagine where they came from. Alex again killed me with cuteness, he said, with certainty, that they were delivered by butterflies.
