Thursday, June 17, 2010

A Slight Transformation

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. ~Richard Bach

We were fortunate enough on Tuesday to capture one of our pillars, Lambda, actually shedding his skin for the final time on his way to becoming a butterfly. I apologize that the video is slightly out of focus... my camera will no longer hold a charge, so I'd plugged it in while sitting on its camera dock and was holding the entire contraption up, so couldn't see the screen very well to see if it was focusing. Despite the blur, you can see what the poor critter goes through to get that skin off.

ARGH.. sorry... YouTube and I are fighting over this video, and Blogger won't upload it directly for me. I'm going to KEEP fighting and see if I can't get a video for you to view... check back?

Okay, I got it to load on Facebook here... but if you're not on Facebook, I don't think you can view it. Will keep trying other options.

Iota shed his skin yesterday, so we now have five pupae in The Box. The other pillars are still too small to go on walkabout, so things should be fairly quiet over the next couple of days, with only poop dumps and feedings taking place.

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Agility was fun last night, but poor Dakota got beat up again. She seems to draw the more physical dogs to her and was being played with VERY roughly by what might be a boxer/pit bull mix (??) -- fairly small... about 40 lbs, tenacious and quick. The dog wasn't hurting her, but apparently another dog saw things differently. This dog is one I absolutely adore, but is one HUGE package of walking muscle. My guess is that she's a chocolate lab / pit bull mix and probably weighs 80 lbs. She decided to intercede and a fight ensued, with Dakota on the bottom in between two very alpha dogs.

The smaller dog's mom was nearby and nabbed her and I grabbed the bigger dog and pinned her saying "NO!" very loudly, but I hope I didn't upset HER mom by doing so. It's always a tough call when it's not your dog you're reprimanding. Her mom didn't seem upset, and we've always gotten along, so hopefully things are cool.

Still, I sure wish Dakota wasn't always on the bottom of the fighting...

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You Are Driven By Self-Improvement



You believe that if you're too satisfied in your life, you're doing something wrong.

You are always trying to better yourself, and that means putting in a lot of hard work.

You want to be the best you can be, and you hardly ever rest. You are a type A person for sure.

You are always trying to make your strengths more robust and your weaknesses disappear.



Hmmm... yes and no...

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5 comments:

Dru said...

Why do you suppose Dakota is picked on?

Are Driven By People

You are a social creature, and you are driven by the relationships you have in your life.

You need to be people, and you jump at the chance to do almost anything with others.

You thrive when you work in a group situation. If you can't be there for yourself, you can at least be there for everyone else.

You are a true team player. You lean on people as much as they lean on you.


Have a good Thursday.

Marianne Arkins said...

RE: why other dogs pick on Dakota

My suspicion is that she is SO submissive, they perceive her as weak. Dogs that are "super alpha" will attack her because of that. The dogs who aren't super dominant don't have issues with her, but those that are? Try to take her down every time.

Maria Zannini said...

I cannot for the life of me understand why the dogs' owners are not paying attention to their dogs and their behavior signals.

That's irresponsible.

Brandy said...

I agree with Maria. Why aren't the dog owners keeping a better eye on their dogs? Poor Dakota.

Re quiz: I am Driven by Stability
You Are Driven by Stability
There's nothing more frightening to you than a life of chaos. You try to find security whenever possible.
You take a lot of joy in being responsible, and you always have a backup plan.
You are good at completing boring and tedious tasks if you know they will pay off in the future.
You tend to have little to worry about in your life. You are good at planning ahead.

Except for those last two it's not that far off.

I hope you have a lovely day!

Tori Lennox said...

I agree with Maria too. Why aren't their owners paying closer attention before things get so far?