Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Butterfly Window



We had 7 monarch cocoons (chrysalis) waiting for us when we got back from our Thanksgiving trip up north... there were still a couple "late bloomers" (see below) and a whole bunch more babies that had hatched.






This is one of the kids' windows, and has proven to be a perfect "butterfly raising" location. After a few mistakes, I've found the best way to raise your own monarchs is outside. Keeping the pots inside a larger storage bin corrals all the escapees (numerous caterpillars dropped off the milkweed until I figured this part out). Also, when placed right outside the window, it allows the kids to have some eye-level observation time without the hands-on worries (just close the window). It won't be long until we see some butterflies!



(Click here for more info on raising monarch caterpillars, and here for postings on Gulf Fritillary butterflies)

3 comments:

Mel said...

Bought some milkweed and am trying to raise one caterpillar right now, outside. We went out of town and I think that all of the eggs washed off of the milkweed from the torrid rain. We'll see. Any tips?

The Fox Den said...

We've gots lots of baby caterpillars...want some?

Mel said...

Yeah, absolutely!