metamorphosis

Last week, the kids caught 4 tadpoles from the drain outside our condo. (It's a newly constructed housing area, so the drain was relatively 'clean'!) One of the tadpoles had already grown hind legs, whilst the rest were still pretty fish-like. I took the opportunity to tell the kids about the interesting life cycle of a frog. The girls already know this from school, but it was something quite new for Solomon. Or maybe he remembers it from an episode of Mr Bean cartoon! I don't know.

Anyway, the kids put them into a small tank and we wondered what to feed it. I figured they wouldn't die from one night without food, so I would Google, "What do tadpoles eat?" the next day, suspecting it would be something like seaweed.

Well, when we woke up the next morning, the kids were alarmed to find that there was only one tadpole left! The kids came up with possible explanations like the tadpoles turning into frogs overnight and hopping away!! However, the tank was covered, so even if they somehow magically transformed into frogs overnight, they couldn't have escaped!

That left only one grisly conclusion...

The lone survivor, was the biggest tadpole, the one with hind legs. So, he must've eaten the other three which could have very possibly been it's siblings!! or relatives?!!

The kids were totally creeped out at this cannibalism and wanted to throw the tadpole away! But I thought it would be educational to keep it to observe it's metamorphosis, even though I was a little creeped out myself!!

True enough, when I Googled it, I found out that tadpoles start out as vegetarians and become carnivorous (and yes, cannibal-'lous'??) once they grow hind legs! We learn something new everyday eh?

So we tried giving it fish food and luckily it seems to be eating that. There's no sign of front legs yet, and we are still eagerly awaiting...


Previously, when we were in Bali, Taiku also brought home a caterpillar for the kids. They talked about it spinning a cocoon and turning into a beautiful butterfly.

Because of all this, I think Solomon figures most creatures grow up to be something else totally!

I say this because, just yesterday, we caught a ginormous grasshopper which was perched on Kung Kung Titus' ladies finger plant. Sidekick had it in a container, and Solomon remarked, "When it grow big will become butterfly!"

I told him that that was caterpillars! Only caterpillars grow up to become butterflies, not grasshoppers!

So he asks, "Then become ladybird??"

Hahaha... I told him no, and he was still confused.

"Small grasshopper become what leh?", he asked.


"Small grasshoppers become big grasshoppers, that's all." I replied.


He looked a bit disappointed. Just a plain ol' boring, grasshopper!  

Lol!!