We found a caterpillar! I was gone for the weekend, and went out this evening to see what had changed over the past few days. I was checking on a butterfly branch that had fallen over and wilted--and there was a tiny Monarch caterpillar! I don't know why it was on a sickly looking branch on the ground when it was surrounded by healthy, young, upright plants. But, now it is in my daughter's pop-up "Port-a-bug." I put some fresh butterflyweed branches in with it and hung it in the kitchen, out of reach of the cats (felines). Hopefully, we'll continue to find more as the season continues, and we'll be able to raise many to adulthood. Wish us luck! Martha

I've looked, and the only nature center that has butterflies is 2.5 hrs away. I e-mailed a few people today, including the president of the West Michigan chapter of the American Butterfly Association. We'll see if anything comes out of that. I would much rather donate them somewhere, but as back up, I'll do as msrpaul suggested.

I'm raising about 50 Monarchs this year, and because I don't have enough of any one species of Asclepias to feed all of them, I am offering them cuttings of 2 or 3 species when they are small (A. incarnata, A. syriaca, or A. curassavica) and eventually they seems to adapt and eat all of them. A. tuberosa is the least favorite. I tried feeding some to the larger cats, but the leaves were pretty drought stricken and not even the hungry 5th instar cats ate much. Do you have any other type of milkweed? If that's all you have and you are trying to transition the baby cats, then I would pick the smallest and most tender leaves possible.

I think the caterpillars just get wanderlust when they're ready to go into the chrysalis! This is my first year planting for butterflies, so I can't make comparisons. Last year I just had one Monarch wander through during fall migration. This year was much better, and we saw quite a few monarchs here and there in the garden, but never more than one at a time. I didn't see any eggs or babies until last week, when my husband spotted an ELF. After her departure, I counted 42 eggs, and brought in 20 to raise. There is also one giant caterpillar in the yard now, so obviously I missed a previous ELF. Frankly, I had stopped checking the milkweed because it was so heavily infested with aphids I couldn't stand to handle it. I had been hosing it off for quite some time, but I had surgery and couldn't do it and then it was too late. Anyway, I am hoping that this year is better on the East Coast in general. I've been too laid up postop to be able to go to the park and check out the butterfly fields there. Last year was terrible, as most of you know. I learned that 90% of the monarchs overwintering in Mexico come from the Midwest, though. So we do our bit, but you folks in Texas, Oklahoma, and the Great Plains really carry the weight. So I hope you all are doing well. Liz