Not sure why it took so long to realize I should have been blogging about butterflies long, long ago. The season is 2/3 over, so I've got a lot to catch up on. Anyone out there who looks for monarch caterpillar's every year, loves to watch them grow, morph into their chrysalis' and then emerge? I have been fascinated by this since I was a very young girl, and I've been gathering caterpillars ever since. There is something awesome about watching a caterpillar become a butterfly...so I'll share what goes on in my caterpillar hunting world, and hope someone out there joins in.

While our summer started early, I thought the Monarchs would arrive and the caterpillars would also be early. Not so. Usually, I find my first caterpillar the first week of June. I couldn't find any. I allowed milkweed to grow freely in my yard--even the front yard. No caterpillars. I saw the Monarch's, but no caterpillars. Finally, I found one. Just one. I got out my butterfly cage, and faithfully got it fresh leaves, watched it turn into a chrysalis, and one morning, watched from beginning to end as the fat bodied butterfly with tiny teeny mutant looking wings crawl out, pump it's body and saw the wings grow into straight, big, beautiful wings. Then I released it into my garden. I was happy!!!

Some summers I have only found one or two caterpillars. So this marked the summer a success.

Weeks went by, and guess what? In my own backyard...voila! I found a couple of caterpillars! Three, on one plant! Into my cage they went. I watched them grow and grow, and one went into its chrysalis. The next went right up to the top next to the chrysalis, spun his anchoring web, and hung into it's J shape...all was well.

That morning, I took the cage out to our garage to clean it out, and put fresh leaves in, because I still had one caterpillar left. The cage was zipped shut, and I thought fresh air and sunshine would be good. NOT! We were in and out of the house, packing the car for a trip. Each time I passed by the cage, I looked into make sure all was well. One trip into the house, and I noticed a HOLE in the top part of the cage! WHAT? There was never a gaping hole! I would have noticed...wait...where was the chrysalis, and the J hanging caterpillar??? BOTH GONE!

Within seconds of one of my trips into the house, something had come and ripped open that cage, and nabbed the two innocent creatures. Without a sound. Without a trace. It had to be one of those swallows who tried each year to build its nest above our front door, and dive-bombs our black lab all day long. I thought swallows were nice! I USED TO like them. They eat pests, don't they? Now, I lost two almost butterfly's, in the blink of an eye, just when I thought I was being kind to them. I was appalled all day long. The NERVE! The cage stays in the house from now on. I thought milkweed made the caterpillars taste nasty? Apparently, not to a swallow. And how could that bird have seen them through the white mesh of the cage? They must have hovered or perched on top and poked their nasty pointy beaks right through the mesh, made the steal and flown off. I hate that. Another hard lesson learned. I'm down to one caterpillar.

Stay tuned. I have more stories from this year and more caterpillars too...share some of your own, I'd love to hear!