Truman The caterpillar

from listener Look how happy our little Monarch caterpillar is!

Ate a smilie-face in the milkweed leaf today!

I actually saw the butterfly lay the egg and brought it in so the mean red bugs couldn't eat it.

Our biologist son recommended wrapping the ends of the milkweed leaves in a wet paper towel.

It works great for keeping the leaves from wilting quickly!

We named the little fellar Truman. ;-)

took this clearer photo a short while later... which seems to show the smile turning into a belly laugh! I think Truman must have a great sense of humour!

Truman is three days old now, and for the first day I was really worried because it didn't appear that our caterpillar was eating anything, and caterpillars are supposed to be all about eating!

But as I continued to observe, I noticed on the second day that the little fellar had probably been eating all that time, but such a small layer of the leaf that it didn't show. It wasn't until the second day that Truman began to make a mark across the top of the leaf. Now, as you can see, Truman chomps right through like a champ, and is now big enough that we can make out body stripes! Truman is not only humourous but quite intelligent (especially considering brain size!); I noticed last night that Truman sleeps aligned along the center spine of the leaf, to be camouflaged! Why didn't I think of that?

What could Truman be saying here?
Is Truman asking about our housecat?
Celebrating CATS, being a CATerpillar?
Or is it a special message for Catreona?
;-)

It took Truman half a day to munch the smilie, most of the evening to laugh, and another couple hours to create the Cat. =^. .^=
Truman the Artist! Imagine what Truman will be able to do as a Butterfly!
;-)

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