Monday, May 11, 2009

Friendy and the ethics of bug-keeping

Sunday's Ledger-Enquirer included a story of our adventures with Friendy, the little Eastern tent caterpillar-turned-moth that stayed with us in a jar in our kitchen for over a month. It's also a meditation on all the little ethical dilemmas that arise when you hold a backyard creature captive for an extended period of time.

Here's a photo of Will releasing Friendy the moth in our backyard:

2 comments:

Robin Trimarchi said...

Hi Annie

Robin Trimarchi here ... do you know of any homeschooling moms who might like a couple of years worth of Smithsonian and National Geographic magazines? They are in beautiful condition, and I would for them to get another round of good use before hitting the recycling bin ...

Wonderful blog and super sweet story. What a cool experience for Will (he's four?!) -- I briefly collected butterflies as a kid, you know, carefully 'letting them die' and pinning them for display. Then suddenly one day I decided that was just an awful thing to do!

Tell Rob I said 'HI'

Annie Addington said...

Thanks for the offer of magazines, Robin. Any local homeschooling moms interested? I may nab some for the preschool otherwise.

I love your memory of butterfly torture-art -- another nice example of the ethical dilemmas we face when bugs and kids meet.