According to the internets, the process of a monarch from egg to butterfly usually takes about a month. But it has been unpleasantly hot for most of this summer and it only took 21 days. The big change this week was buying a second habitat and separating the caterpillars from the ready to hatch chrysalises. This […]
This post will be mostly photos, since Week two can be summed up as: Collect milkweed. Feed caterpillars. Vacuum caterpillar poop from floor of habitat. Wait for chrysalises to form.
Why collect monarch eggs and raise them inside instead of leaving them where they were laid? Because they have a low survival rate outdoors. By collecting the eggs and raising them indoors (about a month-long process) the monarch doesn’t have to deal with predators until they are released as butterflies.
Although our cats don’t go outside, there is plenty of fauna traipsing through the yard. In addition to several neighborhood cats, there are many birds, squirrels, several skunks (with very interesting markings, but are difficult to photograph because they only come out at night) and a few woodchucks. With the exception of the cats, they […]
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