Critter Profile: Felix!
Overview!
Name: Felix
Species: Danaus plexippus (Monarch caterpillar)
Primary Caretaker: Tim Wilson
Diet: Milkweed foliage
Housed: Tim Wilson's office
Creature Features!
Felix is the name I, Tim Wilson, have given to this extraordinary specimen of Monarch caterpillar. Fun fact about myself, I love caterpillars! They're my favorite animal. I love how they wriggle about and munch on leaves and build cocoons for themselves. Not so much a fan of the butterflies. Being a caterpillar, being so much sturdier and closer to the earth is what it's all about. And wouldn't you know it, Felix here remains a caterpillar year round, multiple years in a row!
That's right! Felix is not only seemingly immortal, but after getting into his cocoon, comes out as a handsome little caterpillar all over again! Isn't that exciting?
History.
Look at that fat fuck.
I first got a hold of Felix at some point back in the summer of '96. I had just moved up from San Diego after bidding my old life farewell and had just recently met the woman who would be my new wife; Alice. We were out on a date in Tickle Creek, and I just so happened to see the little guy walking on a branch on the path. I almost stepped on him! We were just on our way back home, so I emptied out my water bottle and put him in there until I we could get back and I could find a good place for him to grow up in.
After getting home, I watched and fed him in a cloth-lidded mason jar for a week until it came time for him to go into his cocoon. But this little critter needed a name. I thought of my own progeny back in San Diego, my handsome, immutable son, Felix. And so, they came to share a name. Much to my surprise, good old Felix came out of his cocoon, good as new two weeks later! I was shocked. You should have seen the look on my face. It was then that I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to cataloging all the weird and wild critters that exist here in Boring.
We've really come a long way in all the years since, haven't we? From that polar bear, to the Supervisors, and everything else, we're still going. Felix, unlike his namesake and my now-daughter Faeowynn, and I aren't going anywhere. Here's to twenty more years of Wilson's Wildlife Solutions!
Special Needs and Accommodations.
Good old Felix doesn't need much! He likes his little habitat in my office — he's got plenty of room to wriggle around in, and as long as the milkweed keeps coming, he will be okay.
Notes about Chuck.
As previously mentioned, Felix here was the first critter to be documented at the Center. He's a bit of a celebrity around here because of this, and loves receiving guests from his tank in my office.
"Here is a list of Critter Profiles the Supervisors want us to convert to their native documentation," Faeowynn said, dumping a stack of papers on my already overwhelmed desk. "You should get to it as soon as possible," she gave a sigh, turning to leave. "You know how the Supervisors hate waiting."
"Wait, caterpillar," I called to her. "Come here. Look at this." I smiled, pointing to Felix's tank in the left corner of the room. I stood and stomped my way around the cluttered desk before me to stand in front of my favorite caterpillar.
"Dad,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monarch_caterpillar_%2823229%29.jpg
