Are you a kid? Has your mom told you to get off the screen and go outside? If you are reading this… stay on screen a few minutes longer…find out about frass.

If you are the mom or dad who wants a son or daughter to get off the screen…great for you. But read about frass with them…THEN go outside…together.

Fact one:

This blog began with frass. The word sounds like grass with an “f” sound at the front. Never heard of frass? During the summer months it is outside. Want to know another thing about frass? It’s everywhere- on the ground. If there is a place with growing plants, chances are very good there is frass on the ground below them. Frass is small…and hard to see. But after this you will know to look for it…and you will find it. Then go caterpillar hunting!

Tired of waiting to know what frass is? Are you ready to say eeew!? Say eew! Frass is caterpillar poop. Now that we’ve said the word poop-let’s be mature about it and call it scat. Biologists call animal waste scat…in the case of any caterpillar they call it frass. Got it?

Fact one: Caterpillars make frass.

Fact Two:

One day last week I saw caterpillar frass by the side garage door of our house. My first thought wasn’t what’s that-I know what frass is. My first thought was where is the caterpillar? Since I thought I was too busy, I did not look hard for the caterpillar. I went inside thinking-there is a caterpillar around here.

Fact two: When you see something in nature that catches your eye stop and watch for a bit…most of the time it will lead to a nature discovery.

Fact Three:

The next day, I could not ignore the signs by our side garage door. There, alongside the garage wall on the landscape bark was a green caterpillar the size of your dad’s little finger. It was not only big…it was lime green! This time I had enough sense to think to myself, “go and get your camera right now…this big caterpillar may not stick around. I did. It took me less than two minutes to change camera lenses…clean the lens, and set the camera. When I came back to the spot-the caterpillar was gone! But I thought, it can’t be far away. It did not take much searching to find it farther alongside the house. To get its photo I gently picked it up…I wasn’t sure it would bite me. So, when it wriggled violently, I dropped it. But it was close enough to get photos of it. The violent wriggles are a defense behavior.

Fact Three: Our frass making caterpillar is the larva of a Laurel Sphinx moth.

Bonus fact: When it is fully developed the horn on the tail end will fall off. It will pupate underground…there it will survive the coming winter and become an adult Laurel Sphinx moth…click on the button for a photo.

Big Question: Why did God make caterpillars? ONE big answer: for kids like me and you to enjoy and wonder about.

God’s power and divine nature are seen even in caterpillars.

Think about it…all of this-photos and story came from me seeing frass on our landscape rock. We are always rewarded when we are curious outside.