Fireball is in Grade Two now. Specifically, for this age group (no idea why), they have an event in school known as the Yago Tori (ヤゴ取り/collecting dragonfly nymphs). The school usually cleans its pool and gets it ready for summer. Just before they emptied the pool completely, the students were told to enter the shin-high, swampy green water to save as many dragonfly nymphs as possible.

I was totally fine with helping the dragonfly species do our bit by saving their young. But when we were given the option of bringing the nymphs home and caring for them until they morphed into dragonflies, my response was a resounding NO. It was a noble thing, but I am not a big fan of insects (other than ladybirds, bees, and butterflies, which I love to have in my garden). The dragonfly looks pretty cool, but I can’t say the same about the nymphs, and I was told they are difficult to take care of. They are picky eaters who prefer their food to be alive, so I will have to store live worms in my fridge (YUCK); they will die if the water temperature is above 25°C, etc. Anyway, I heaved a sigh of relief when my seven-year-old agreed not to bring home any since he is also not a big fan of insects, and neither are my cats.

The event was last Thursday. Most of his classmates brought home their catch and Fireball did not. WHEW! However, he was excited and told me he had found nine dragonfly nymphs (including babies). I gave him a pat on the back and was so glad that the event was over. The next day, Fireball came back with our six-legged friends… (I think my furthest neighbor could hear me when I let out a really loud cry of “WHY”) 😛

I was afraid the YAGO would die in our care, so I was planning to release them in a nearby park on Saturday. As I lifted our DIY container, trying to see our guests through the dirty water. One of the little fellows was looking out. Our gazes locked, and I realized how pretty its eyes were. At that moment, my heart of stone melted away. I can’t abandon them. So, I dragged my kids to the nearest home center, bought 2 kg of pebbles, 3 water hyacinth plants, and transformed an old cat’s little box into a container pond…

We drained out the dirty water to find our guests. Instead of nine, we could only see six of them, and one was dead. There were no babies. I feared they were probably eaten by the five survivors because they hadn’t fed for three days. Our little friends seemed to know that the makeshift pond was their new home; they were climbing into it without being told. 😀

Water, Food, and Other Considerations

I did not have time to prep the water, so I used a method I learned online: boiling tap water for 20 minutes. It is the fastest way to remove chlorine, but it will not remove chloramine. I let it cool down and used it for the pond. In the afternoon, I bought a water conditioner from a pet shop (the one on the right is from Daiso) and a package of dry food for the dragonfly nymphs. According to the package, this is food for the YAGO too. I used a wooden chopstick to feed them. Most of them ran away, except for one. It was holding on to the dry food and eating it away.

I plan to find a long stick to put in the “pond” in case one of them is ready to morph. We still have so much to learn about being a good host family. Do share, if you have the experience. I hope to see these little fellows all complete their nymphal stages and become fearless dragonflies. Gambatte, YAGO-chan! ♡♡♡♡♡

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