There is no harm whatever in taking them _if the work is carefully
and judiciously done_. With you they are safe. Outside they have
precarious chance for existence, for they are constantly sought by
hungry squirrels and field mice, while the sharp eyes and sharper
beaks of jays, and crows, are for ever searching for them. The only
danger is in keeping them too warm, and so causing their emergence
before they can be placed out safely at night, after you have made
yourself acquainted with Luna history.
If they are kept cool enough that they do not emerge until May
or June, then you have one of the most exquisite treats nature has
in store for you, in watching the damp spot spread on the top of
the cocoon where an acid is ejected that cuts and softens the tough
fibre, and allows the moth to come pushing through in the full
glory of its gorgeous birth. Nowhere in nature can you find such
delicate and daintily shaded markings or colours so brilliant and
fresh as on the wings of these creatures of night.
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