Towards the end of class a beautiful Monarch butterfly came by and flew around us for a few minutes. I love these creatures and have been trying to create a more Monarch friendly habitat in my garden so for me at least it added a special something to the morning.
In fact, when I had left home earlier that morning I'd noticed one of three chrysalises that are currently on and around (another story) the milkweeds in my yard had just changed colour so I knew one of my butterflies would be emerging soon too.
Sure enough when I got back this little one was out and waiting for his wings to fill. We'd named this one the Angry Caterpillar, as one day I returned home to find him trying leave the plant pot in what I thought was an effort to find more food, so I tried put him on a different milkweed. At which point he seemed to go a little mad and had what I could only describe as a small caterpillar tantrum, refusing to stay on the plant. I returned him to his original plant and hoped for the best. Luckily, he was OK and by the end of the next day he'd turned into his chrysalis.
You can see the second chrysalis on the leaf below. The second one was ready to launch the very next day.
The story of the 'around' that I alluded to above was when I had returned that day to see the Angry caterpillar trying to make a bolt for it I also noticed that one of the others was completely missing. I looked everywhere but couldn't see him, then a few days later I was sitting outside and happened to look over at one of my plant pots and noticed the little green and gold pod.
This one got name the Wandering Caterpillar for obvious reasons. I was just happy he was safe and kept an eye on him too, moving the pot onto the ledge for protection.
...and here he is ready for launch!....
...more on Butterfly Habitats coming soon, but in the meantime check out this link for more information on how you can help. http://monarchwatch.org/
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