Our daughter & granddaughter rescued a Monarch butterfly caterpillar (UPDATED)

[Omaha Steve]

Last edited Sun Sep 27, 2015, 06:13 PM - Edit history (1)

UPDATE. Here is the actual photo of Maddy's Monarch.



All the other photos are from here: http://www.scienceprojectlab.com/monarch-butterfly.html

Our daughter was out golfing a few weeks ago. Somebody noticed she had a caterpillar on her sock. She knew just what it was. She took it with her in a coffee cup. It was a very hot day. She didn't want to leave it in the car, so she took it through the store with her.



She went home and she and our granddaughter looked up the what to do info. Maddy has a lady bug house. That made for a great temp home. Soon they had a chrysalis.



They were getting ready to go on vacation. They thought they would have to take it with them so they wouldn't miss the birth of a Monarch. Nature took care of that a few days before they were to leave it hatched. They set it free to continue the life cycle.





OS

[stage left]

1. Great photos.

I rescued a swallowtail last year, but my photos aren't that good.

[Omaha Steve]

8. I borrowed the photos from the science site

Check out the link in the OP.

OS

[Lochloosa]

2. Very cool. Good learning experience for your granddaughter

[Snobblevitch]

3. I remember doing this as a kid.

We lived near a wetland that was full of milkweed. I wonder where all the milkweed has gone? That is a 'weed' that should be planted.

[roody]

11. Monsanto killed the milkweed.

[sudenlyseymour]

4. How Wonderful!

I have a special like for Monarch butterflies.

My second grade teacher, Mrs. Young, brought in a piece of milkweed with a chrysalis attached to it. Put it into a terarium.

Every day all of us youngsters watched and waited for the butterfly to emerge. When it finally did we all went to the playground and relased that beautiful creature into the world.

The Monarchs are endangered now. If you live in a climate that supports the growth of milkweed you should grow it. We don't want to see the Monarchs go extinct.

[madamvlb]

5. Thanks for posting.

I live in the Poconos in NE Pennsylvania and the milkweed is everywhere. This year I went on a mission to find a monarch caterpiller and watch the metamorphosis with my granddaughter. She missed it by an hour. It happens so fast after the crystallis turns black. It was so amazing to watch, wish I had taken some photos.

If anyone would like some milkweed seeds I have so many I can share, just message me where to send.

[haikugal]

6. I'm in south central PA and grow milkweed among others for the wild things...

The seed pods are ready if anyone wants them.

Not my pics...yours are beautiful Steve and we did the same thing when my son was small.





PM me.

We saw three hatches of monarch caterpillars on one plant this year...one of each size from tiny to almost ready. Saw the butterfly's later and it did my heart good. They are getting rare.

[JDPriestly]

7. I love Monarch butterflies. But the drought as taken a toll on my Milkweed plants.

I hope to have more Monarchs this coming year.

[narnian60]

9. Thank you to them

for being so kind and respectful towards this creature. Need more humans like this.

[gvstn]

10. This thing used to be so common when I was growing up just 30 years ago.

You just don't see caterpillars and butterflys and bees like you used to. I have a plant that always attracted the earliest bees of the season but I haven't seen more than one bee there in the Spring (for 3 years) and the plant is not healthy. I think this is worse than anyone has expressed. Pesticides or something more? I am not sure.

[Omaha Steve]

12. Mexican forests that the Monarchs stay out the winter are disappearing to illegal logging

We are watching an old 2009 NOVA about it.

View it here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/journey-butterflies.html

Program Description
Orange-and-black wings fill the sky as NOVA charts one of nature's most remarkable phenomena: the epic migration of monarch butterflies across North America. To capture a butterfly's point of view, NOVA's filmmakers used a helicopter, ultralight, and hot-air balloon for aerial views along the transcontinental route. This wondrous annual migration, which scientists are just beginning to fathom, is an endangered phenomenon that could dwindle to insignificance if the giant firs that the butterflies cling to during the winter disappear.

[Brother Buzz]

14. The vacancy light is still on in California but they aren't coming

We still have plenty of trees, but the west coast migrating population has been decimated. Perhaps only 10% of the population visit compared to what I remember from my childhood, and that's being generous.

[Phentex]

13. What a great experience...

Nature is a wonderful thing.