Mickey the Butterfly

Meet Mickey.....he started out like this:

(see the creepy green caterpillar in the leaf?)

My parents brought this living, breathing, needs-to-be-fed-daily creature into our lives several weeks ago.  

I was completely anti-Mickey at first.  For several reasons....he was gross. He needed to be fed and kept alive for a specific length of time. And if he did not stay alive while in our care, I was going to have to talk death to our three year old.  

Thanks Mac and Gramps!

But sweet little Mickey grew on me.  I never had to touch him.  His smells and excretions were all contained to his little plexiglass environment.  And he didnt need to be walked or bathed.

Every morning, as I walked across the house to the kids' rooms, I would take a quick peek at little Mickey and now that he has moved on, I notice myself checking Mickey's bookshelf a few times a day.  I wouldnt necessarily say I "liked" him, but he made himself a part of my daily life and I guess he became a bit of a habit.

About two and a half weeks ago, Mickey made his way to the top of the container and did his cocoon business.  He hung out there (literally) for  at least two full weeks.  To me, this meant no more feeding or risking having to touch him.  To Whitney, this meant something was about to happen to Mickey.  And she was excited!

She couldnt WAIT to see what Mickey would look like. We had great conversations about where Mickey might fly and what he would look like and what he would eat.  

So. After two weeks of waiting (and a few conversations where Eric and I wondered whether this dude was ever gonna come out), Mickey emerged.  When I woke up, his cocoon was sporting some new black spots and I sorta thought something was "about to happen". 

I went into the kitchen to feed Grady breakfast and when I came back into the playroom, there he was! Mickey the Caterpillar had become Mickey the Butterfly!! (sigh of relief #1: he is alive)

I called my mom and Eric, as though my own water had just broken and I was about to go into labor. The excitement! The live miracle that just happened in my house! The pretty wings and amazing timing! It was pretty cool, I have to admit. 

I still had an hour before I had to go get Whitney from school but I picked her up early and told her the big news and she couldnt wait to see her Mickey!

She told him that she had been waiting for him and that she wanted him to "flap his wings SUPER hard so he can fly real good!"

I have to admit, I was a little nervous.  Mickey took a position towards the bottom of the container, and his wings didnt really dry out as much as I had assumed they would in the 3-4 hours we were supposed to let him dry.

Eric raced home from Disney (where he was meeting some of his co-workers) to meet Mickey the Butterfly and ensure I never had to touch the sweet creature as he left our care. 

As Whitney napped and Eric and my parents rushed to our house, the drama ensued.  Poor Mickey wasnt moving.  He didnt budge when I tapped on the glass.  He didnt shake his wings.  His eyes looked dull and no longer bright and shiney.  

That's when I took Mickey's container outside in the sun to help his wings dry a bit more.  I gave him some time and went to check on him, 99% certain he was a goner.  

As I bent down to check on the little fellow, he shimmied his wings! He's ALIVE!! I was way more excited than appropriate for a 33 year old woman and a butterfly!

And then it happened.....

Bailey.  The nearly-blind mutt.  The "real" pet of the family.

The dog bolted past me in an effort to chase a lizard he couldnt even see....and as I yelled, "BAILEY!!! NO!!!!!!"....it happened.  His first three legs missed the container holding Mickey, and almost in slow motion, his hind leg just clipped the top corner of poor Mickey's home...

Surely Mickey was dead.  Poor guy.  I felt awful.  I yelled at Bailey, who literally never saw it coming.  I was torn between sadness as I imagined out girl's reaction as she would learn her butterfly's fate, and laughter as I thought about how NO ONE would ever believe how this dumb butterfly had A) found a place in my heart and B) met his final demise at the paws of a blind dog.

Sigh. 

My parents and Eric arrived as Whitney woke up and I noticed some movements from a still-wet-winged Mickey.

Dude was ALIVE! AGAIN!!!

I quickly ushered them all out to the back porch to see this ALIVE Mickey before anything else happened to him.  

Whitney talked to him some more and we wondered where he would fly (to see Bill and Jill, the butterflies from last year's preschool class), IF he would fly (doubtful), and if he would come back to see us someday. 

As we let his wings dry some more, we snapped some pics of Mac and Gramps with their favorite kiddies, and wondered when Mickey would finally take flight.  

(Look at this next pic and try to tell me Grady doesnt look like my mom.  G'head. Try.  

He TOTALLY looks like her!)

We all decided to carry on with our lives and let Mickey live in the pool enclosure, on a plant while we went out to dinner.  

Whitney told him to exercise his wings and we would see him when we got back from dinner.  

We left Mickey on a leaf in a potted plant on the screened-in porch.  IF his wings suddenly decided to dry out, straighten up, and fly, he would be contained to our pool area where Whitney would still be able to see him in flight and release him into the great big world.  

We went to dinner.  Ran some errands.  Moved on with life....

....laughed a little............

.....laughed a lot........

and came home. 

We rushed out back to see if we could find Mickey.  Sadly, no Mickey.  I called my parents, who were equally emotionally invested in this insect by now, and as we mourned the loss of Mickey. How did we know Mickey was gone?

Well....there was a giant lizard on the exact leaf where we left Mickey.  And as Eric was mid-Google on a "do lizards eat butterflies" search, it happened......

"THERE he is, Daddy! There's Mickey! Right there on that leaf!!"

And sure enough, there was Mickey; quite the trooper and obviously a survivor as he had now lived through some mushy wings, a dog attack, and a killer lizard.

And there I was.  Close to ten o'clock at night. And all I could think was "get this dang butterfly OUT of my life!!! ENOUGH!!!"

Poor Mickey.

Eric and i decided Mickey would face certain death if we left him on the porch with countless lizards and cold night air. So what did we do? We did what any rational, educated adults would do when their three year old asked where Mickey would sleep.  

We brought Mickey inside and let him sleep in a net on our kitchen counter. 

MANY Google searches, a few water and honey feedings, and 10 hours later, it was time for this happy three year old to release that butterfly into the wild.  Survival of the fittest, yall. 

So on Saturday morning, we carried Mickey to the front yard where the sun was shining and would surely warm Mickey's wings.  Whitney still didnt want to let Mickey walk on her hand but was thrilled to hold him in the net as she walked him to his "new home".  

Eric helped Mickey onto a pretty white flower and we watched for a moment as he walked around, tried to flap his wings, and settled for a walk along the branches of a bush.  

We dont know where Mickey ended up (ok, so we totally know but we dont want to talk about it) and we learned a lot from his time in our family playroom.

A) the life cycle of a butterfly is pretty amazing

B) never accept "pets" from anyone who doesnt live in your home/wont be responsible if/when they die

C) Mickey will likely be a part of our lives far longer than his brief life on this earth

In the end, and after MUCH research, it appears Mickey needed to get a higher perch when he emerged from his cocoon.  Because he sat so low and right against the glass, his wings dragged in the mulch and never got the chance to stretch and dry straight.  No one's "fault" and a point completely lost on Whitney, who is thrilled to have been a part of Mickey's life, flight or not, and, thankfully, has no clue that Mickey wont live as happily ever after as the other butterflies she "knows".