Four Winds Nature Institute
4 Casey Rd. Chittenden, VT 05737
802-353-9440 www.fourwindsinstitute.org
Ecosystems – SIGNS OF LEAF-EATERS – Puppet Show
Leaf-eaters and their Foes
Characters: Benjy Bear, Leafcutter Caterpillar on leaf, Chickadee, Gertie Grass, Grady Grasshopper,
Freddie Fox
Benjy Bear Boy, my belly’s so full of berries, I
need a nap. I’ll just lie down in the shade of this
maple tree. (leaf enters) Why, look at that leaf. I
wonder why it has those big holes in it?
Leafcutter They don’t call me a leafcutter for
nothing!
Bear Oh, now I can see where you’ve been
eating - that ring of tiny holes in the leaf. Seems
to me you’ve got everything you need up there.
Leafcutter Yup. This leaf’s my habitat.
Bear Habitat? What’s that?
Bear A leafcutter? You look like a caterpillar.
Leafcutter Yup, a leafcutter caterpillar. I’ll turn
into a moth someday, if I eat enough.
Leafcutter It’s where something lives. If I were
a frog, where would I live?
Bear In a pond?
Bear I bet you ate that big hole in the leaf!
Leafcutter Nope, that theory’s full of holes. I
cut out that piece of leaf for a shelter. See (turn
leaf over to show case). I sew two leaf pieces
together with silk and hide inside.
Bear Just like a turtle’s shell! What are you
hiding from?
Leafcutter From little birds with sharp bills –
like that chickadee – yikes! (exits)
Chickadee I thought I saw a caterpillar - on
that leaf. Weren’t you just talking to someone?
Bear Me? Talking to a leaf? I don’t think so.
Chickadee Hmm. This seems like a cover-up
operation to me. Well, I’ve got a hungry family
to feed. No time to poke my beak into this
matter right now. (exits)
Bear All clear, caterpillar. (caterpillar reenters) I guess your leaf disguise works well. So
birds eat caterpillars, but I still don’t know what
you eat.
Leafcutter I’m a leaf-cutter and a leaf-eater. I
nibble on the leaf just outside my shelter.
Leafcutter Right. Because that’s where a frog
can find food, water, shelter, and a place to have
young. But I’m a Leafcutter caterpillar, so this
tree is my habitat.
Bear You get food, water, and shelter right
from that leaf?!
Leafcutter Yup, I do. But now I’m ready to
become a moth, so I will drop to the ground and
turn into a Maple Leafcutter Pupa. So long!
(exits)
Bear So long, little fellow. Good luck! Now,
for that nap! (grass enters) Ah choo! Oh hi,
Gertie Grass. I think you’re giving me hay fever.
Gertie Grass Probably! I’m scattering pollen
today (waves around). It’s one of my jobs in this
field.
Bear You and all the other grasses. This field
must be your habitat.
Grass Yes, it is. It has everything a plant needs
– sunshine, water, good soil. I love it here. I may
be just one grass, but I’m part of something
much bigger. I’m a part of the ecosystem in this
field.
Bear Ecosystem? What’s that Gertie?
Grass It’s what’s happening here – sun shining,
plants and animals growing, everything turning
into soil. An ecosystem means all the living and
nonliving things in a place and all the ways
they’re connected. We’re all working together to
make the field a field!
our jobs in the ecosystem. I just don’t like to
think about it.
Bear Guess I can’t blame you for that. What
other jobs do you have?
Grasshopper Why, we grasshoppers eat a lot of
leaves and we turn them into, well, fertilizer, if
you know what I mean, and that helps the grass
to grow. More grass to feed more grasshoppers!
Bear You don’t look like you’re working.
Grass Sure I am. I’m catching sunlight and
turning it into leaves.
Bear Turning sunlight into leaves? Sounds like
magic! We bears can’t do that!
Grass That’s where we’re different. I’m a
producer – I make food. And you’re a consumer
– you eat food!
Bear That’s for sure! I love to eat!
Bear You’re a pretty important part of this
field, aren’t you?
Grasshopper Well I should hop so! Goodbye,
Benjy! (exits)
Bear So long, Grady. And now for that nap…
(fox enters, jumping up and down). Uh, what’s
up with you, Freddie Fox?
Freddie Fox (embarrassed) Oh, uh, nothing.
Just doing my exercises, that’s all.
Grass You’re not alone. There are lots of
consumers around here – herbivores like deer
and mice that like to eat plants. And carnivores
– the meat-eaters that like to eat them.
Bear Were you trying to catch the grasshopper?
Bear And omnivores like us bears that like to
eat everything.
Bear Everybody’s gotta eat.
Fox Me? Oh, no. Well, maybe. Well, what if I
was? I’m a hungry fox.
Grass That’s right, Benjy. We’re all a part of
the ecosystem. Uh oh, speaking of herbivores,
here comes a hungry leaf-eater now! [exits]
Fox Right. Everybody needs energy to live.
Plants get energy from the sun and turn it into
leaves, and grasshoppers get energy from eating
plants.
Bear Huh? I don’t see any caterpillars.
(grasshopper enters) Oh, hi, Grady
Grasshopper – are you a leaf-eater too?
Bear And foxes get energy from eating
grasshoppers?
Bear Looks like you chewed all around the
edges of that leaf.
Fox If we can catch ‘em. Or tasty voles or mice
or rabbits. It’s just one of our jobs in the
ecosystem – eating leaf-eaters. Mm-mm, there
goes one now! I’m off to work! See you later,
Benjy! (exits)
Grasshopper Yes, I’m a bit on edge today.
I’m worried about birds or foxes...hey, you don’t
eat grasshoppers, do you?
Bear Well, gee. I guess I’d better get to work,
too. And for a bear, that means eating berries!
Pretty good work if you can get it!
Grasshopper Sure – I love leaves.
Bear Don’t worry. I just filled up on berries.
Grasshopper Good thing. I don’t really want to
be food for a meat-eater. Even though it’s one of
The End
Copyright © Four Winds Nature Institute – 7/13