Let's see...where were we?

 

Pretty much at this point it's quite in the Gilmore nursery. 5 chrysalis are hanging, waiting out the 9-14 days before they enclose. Which is a good thing. During this time I had cataract surgery on my right eye on July 5th. Then 3 days later I drove 4 hours, spent the night with my eldest daughter and came home with my 12 year old granddaughter Juniper ~ When we returned on the 9th one of the chrysalis had turned a dark color. I came back to the cage moments later to take a pic...and this is what I found...

This was #2 chr that I had to remove from the 2 leaves...it's a girl! From here on out they all enclosed while Juniper was here for a week visit. She was able to release all 5. Pretty exciting.  On one of our outings to the creek to play in the water we saw these guy: A Northern Tiger Swallowtail with a Pipevine Swallowtail.

 

 

When we returned from out water outing she released this one. 

So, within 3 days 5 monarchs were released. 3 males and 2 females. All healthy in spite of me bringing them in as very small caterpillars. That in its self is amazing. I know I can not save them all...but by gosh I will help the ones I can. *smile* 

Here is a tidbit of info. I want to share with you.

The monarch caterpillar grows inside the egg for about 4 days. It then munches milkweed and grows as a monarch caterpillar (larvae) for about 2 more weeks. The caterpillar's life inside the chrysalis (pupa) lasts about 9-14 days and its wonderful life as an adult butterfly lasts from 2 – 6 weeks.

I'll return in a few weeks...lots more to come.  The fall migration is around the corner.  *smile*