Gotcha! Hopper!

My patch of garden outside the house was looking so torn and tattered. The leaves were all razored edged and they look so pathetic. So I went on a caterpillars hunt on Monday, waiting to jet them off with the water hose.

Bah! It's not the caterpillars! It's this guy here doing all the damage (must be a male, since it has such a voracious appetite). I exchange my hose for a take-away plastic container, I'm going to capture him alive for Chloe to have a close-up look. She saw one the other day on the window sill, close enough, but I thought this is even better, 360 degree view.

Chloe: Mummy, hopper, hop, hop!
Me: Yes, we'll catch hopper, ok. Look for it, please.

For like 10 minutes, under the hot morning sun, we were flipping and looking for him. Chloe clapping away, trying to catch him and hopping happily imitating a grasshopper. How comical. Failed! He's fast, I'm slow.

Today, yes! See my captive, we caught him on the way to school. Sri flicked him off and I got him before he can recover from his shock. Chloe was thrilled to bits. 'Hopper! Hopper!' The plan was to bring him to school, show it to her teachers and friends and released it at the grass patch. But between the 3 of them, they forgot to bring the grasshopper to class. We did released it at a park later to chomp on a bigger variety.