I was pulling weeds around our air-conditioner on June 4 when I saw my first Monarch caterpillar of the summer. I thought about leaving him be since he was already pretty big but didn't want a bird to eat him so I made a nice environment for him and set it on the back porch. I read that bringing them inside isn't ideal.
This is its new home. I put two fresh milkweed leaves in on the morning of Thursday, June 6, went to work and came home to find that he had eaten them both. Hungry caterpillar indeed!
By the next evening the caterpillar had climbed to the top of the enclosure.
By Sunday, June 9, it has been hanging in the "J" shape for two days.
Just a couple hours later it made an amazing transformation into a chrysalis. I read it can take eight to 15 days for a butterfly to emerge.
Success! As I was leaving for work yesterday, June 19, I glanced at the container and I had a butterfly! I took the screen off so it could fly away when it was ready ... and it was gone by time I got home from work.
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