Tale of Tails
Posted by Hanna Hawkins on March 28, 2007
Q: O.K. winter just ended and the beginning of spring is here, it got really warm but then the tempature droped and its cold and rainy I found a wooly bear caterpillar in the road in the pouring rain so I picked it up and brought it home but there are no leaves of the trees so do I feed it, or should I not feed it and should I put it in a cold place or in a warm place?
Thanks!
Your website is very helpful!
Habitat: suburban/yard
State: Minnesota
Habitat: suburban/yard
A: In situations like this, I always recommend that people "think like the animal they've found". Sounds a little kooky maybe, but this really helps. If you were that caterpillar and had NOT been brought to your house, you'd be outside right now in the cold and wet just like all of the other caterpillars. Unless ALL Woolly Bears are going to die because of the MN weather (and that's not going to happen), then they'll get along just fine. In other words, they're adapted to deal with the weather and have survived for countless generations without any help from humans. So...do not bring your animal into the house and keep warm but allow your animal to be as close to the natural environment as possible. If you want to watch this animal pupate and then emerge from its cocoon, I'd place it in some kind of container that can get air, place where there is no heat provided (an unheated garage is pretty good) and allow nature to take its course. The Woolly Bear is dormant over the winter months as a caterpillar then when it warms enough, it makes a cocoon, metamorphoses, and then emerges a few weeks later as a moth. If you keep your animal too warm, it may move through its stages too quickly and emerge too soon as an adult. Hope this makes sense. Best of luck.
John Wiessinger ( March 29, 2007)