Changing...

I am not done changing
Out on the run, changing
I may be old and I may be young
But I am not done changing - John Mayer

This cold has hold of me in a big way today, so I didn't really have a lot of energy to do much of anything today, other than a nice chat with my parents this morning.  That said, I did check in on all five of my butterfly nurseries  and found many more monarch chrysalis', several butterflies ready to emerge and two big Black Swallowtail cats in the "position" as seen here.

Whereas Monarch caterpillars suspend themselves by their butt-ends from a small silk pad affixed to something (and what the "something" ends up being took on some new meaning this weekend - more later), swallowtail cats pupate facing upwards with their butts connected to something below and their tops held in position with a very strong silk "cradle" above.  If you look closely in this photo, you can see the silk thread that is holding the top of this cat suspended to the parsley stem.  This is only the second time I've ever raised this species, so I've not had the chance to see how in the heck they shed their skin in this odd position.  Three more to go, so maybe I will get lucky.

A nap and several hours later when I went to check on everyone, I had a moment of sheer panic when I looked for this cat and didn't see anything!  I thought the worst, fearing it had fallen during pupation.  But no, I just wasn't seeing it.  Take a look HERE on Flickr and you will understand why I didn't see it.  The chrysalis takes on the color of whatever it's hanging from - amazing.

Meanwhile, one of my Monarch Nurseries which houses about 20-25 cats, have apparently gone rogue.  Two days ago I found 7 (yes, SEVEN) caterpillars j-hanging from the layer of newspaper on the bottom of the container!  They usually always j-hang from the mesh top of the enclosure, so this was a huge - and unwelcome - surprise.  The newspaper was tilted up against the side of the enclosure, giving the little buggers just enough room to hang and pupate.  Luckily, I saw them in time to bring the entire container inside since we were expecting hard rain that night which would have soaked the newspaper and smooshed the vulnerable cats.  All have pupated and I'll go about the task of moving them to a better spot tomorrow.  Meanwhile, in the same container, two more suspended themselves from the small plastic rack I keep the floral tubes in - ack.  Again, once they are hard, I'll have to relocate them.  What next from my renegade group, I wonder?

Now, I'm off to have a cup of tea with honey.  My throat is still so sore and the honey is very soothing.   And I think tonight I will watch "Chasing Ice" which documents the receding glaciers of the world, something we should all be very worried about.

xo
Debbi

PS:  Five Monarch were released today.  One female who flew for my MIL's first roommate at the home, Lillian who passed last year at 99.  The other four, all males, were released for a husband, a friend, a brother-in-law, and a brother - all missed so dearly by those who loved them.

Please leave me a message if you want a butterfly released in the memory of someone you loved.  I have many butterflies to release in the coming month and I'd like very much to have each one fly for someone special.