The Roly Poly's Come to Visit

Aubrey collected about 13 roly poly bugs in the garden at school yesterday to take home. Poor little roly poly's must have been terrified in the little dixie cup! As much as I would have liked to just set them free, I knew Aubrey wanted to take care of her new little friends so I delighted in her discovery. Not knowing how to care for the little creatures, I immediately went online when we got home and learned a little bit about the infamous Pill Bug aka Roly Poly. They are not insects, they are isopods, related to shrimp, crab, and lobster so they need moisture. Interesting huh? Anyway, so there's more to it than that but I thought that fact was surprising. We put the roly poly's into a plastic dish and put in a few pieces of lettuce for them to eat and/or hide under. We also put a little drop of water in the corner which we later learned was too much because a few of them seemed to have gotten stuck in the water and died...oops. We let them stay overnight in the kitchen. Today we told Aubrey she would have to set her little friends free because we could not provide them the home that they really needed. She understood. So we took a walk and she let each of them go one at a time as we walked along...gently placing them on the ground, naming them, and then saying good-bye. It was very cute to watch.