It has been my pleasure -- sincerely.
Be well
(o_O)
A stranger came to visit
Very interesting thread. I've learned a few things here. Congrats on your 65th wedding anniversary, and the twins. :)) And the releasing of Adam and Eve lol
Thank you.
I am anxiously awaiting more candidates for exploitation.
Be well
(o_O)
Fly, did you check out the list of host plants for other butterflies yet? Bet you find you have a lot that grow wild down in FL. If you find a cat, bring it in and feed it it's host plant and take pictures along the way. Happy flying!
OK
I hear and I obey.
Be well
(o_O)
LOL!
Congrats on 65 years! Thank you too for sharing. I learned a lot and I too was on the edge of my seat wondering what might happen next. I've got a long way to go with my garden, but gee, I think I might want to think about the whole butterfly raising thing in the years to come. Thank you for the inspiration and the desire to explore some more!
If you ever get to the Chicago area, the Brookfield Zoo has a nice exhibit (temp. for summers only) and the Peggy Notabaert (sp?) Nature Museum in the Lincoln Park area has a great indoor exhibit too.
sea~
Thanks for the invitation. If, if, if........................ I ever get there i will try.
I am still waiting for some new butterfly to make a deposit into my "nurseries." Maybe, soon.
My organization worked in your area many years ago. It was in Schaumburg -- when it was more famous for its cornfields. Our clients were one of the mass builders -- and the first purchase was of 640 acres at $400 per acre. The farmer was happy -- he could buy ffour times as much land another 100 miles out. Our client was happy -- he could build, and sell, homes on a quarter-acre of land -- and Schaumburg grew.
Haven't been back there in years -- but maybe, maybe, maybe.
Be well
(o_O)
You would be soooooo shocked if you made your way back to the Schaumburg area. Traffic is often at a standstill, I just checked - population is 71,000 plus! and that's down 5% from 2000, and I would guess that (if it were available) an acre of empty land would go for about $300-400,000!
No joke!
Have a great Summer and thank you again for sharing all of your butterfly happenings!
sea~
Same prices -- it is just the decimal point that keeps moving.
You, too. Have a great (cooler than now) summer -- and, don't be wild.
Be well
(o_O)
Great thread--I keep checking my host plants for BST, but so far no luck. Keep us posted
Hey BCH just saw the massive amounts of Monarch cats you have on the other thread....good going! I would be afraid of one falling in the open water containers though. I have to use plastic across the top or the wet foam. Just me.
DW does that--far as I know we haven't lost one. Makes me nervous as u know what though!
I know she does it because we have to provide massive amounts of MW several times a day, and it's quick and easy
Maybe she would use butter tubs or the like with the lids and drill holes for the stems. It is a lot safer. Or at least wrap the upper part of the stems with paper towels before putting them in the water. It would give something for them to hold onto climb out. Cats start out so tiny that they can be over looked. Can't tell you how many times eggs have come in on new food and been discovered only after they hatched and I almost threw them out with the old stems and debris. Hope she checks that too.
Don't push her too much and make her mad, it is super that she is helping you! My DH doesn't have anything to do with the cats or pupa...but he does tell me when one has emerged or he spots and adult in the garden.
Hi Sheila, actually DW and DD do most of the work w/ the cats and eggs. I build the equipment, hunt for eggs and cats, and take care of the plants.
My wife is semi-retired, and my daughter had a bad accident a few years ago and now lives w/ us along w/ my grandson. They have brought this to the level that it is.
Also, that cage is called the bighouse, and cats don't go in there until they are an inch or so long--up to that point we keep them in individual containers, so we can keep parasites and disease to a minimum.
Large wild cats we just leave in the garden, as we have had some problems w/ them.
I saw someone using floral foam to insert millkweed stems/leaves and that eliminated any concern about drowning.
I'm ambivalent about whether to rear cats this year. What are your thoughts on whether to raise them or let them do their thing? I had some mortality last year due to ignorance. It was only my 2nd year. I guess there is a learning curve.
A.
Amanda--Monarch eggs in the wild have less then a 5% chance of maturing--by rearing them you increase this to 90% survival--even if you make some mistakes they are way ahead.
Thanks for that. Here's what happened:
I started with a 10 gallon aquarium tank with a mesh lid which worked just fine. We raised and released a couple dozen Monarchs. BUT then we started finding the dozens of cats that come with dozens of MW plants. So I pulled out my old 60 gallon tank (!). I'd read it was okay to put newspaper down on the bottom to help keep clean and pick up frass. We'd also been using paper towels.
I made the mistake of using plain white paper - the kind sold in a box for shipping and wrapping things. I had an ill feeling when I put the cats in there - they started rearing up and waving around. But I was in a rush and heading out of town for the night. My boyfriend was watching over them. He said not to worry.
When I got home so many of them were not well. Some died. Some made it to chrysalis stage. Some never came out. We had very few that survived to release. I put at least 20 cats in that tank. :/
I beat myself up for the rest of the season (which was not long!) but continue to plant MW and maintain my habitat. It is surely a labor of love to rear cats. I am so impressed with some of your set up(s) that I've seen photos of in other threads.
I'll admit I was ill prepared the first year and was not much farther ahead the second year, though we did release more cats than I killed. :P
I need to start preparing because they come fast and furious when they finally show up here in August.
A.
never heard of a problem w/ paper--we have always used paper towels, and or regular old TP which also works well in smaller containers.
I wonder if there was some chemical on the paper
Must have been. I still kick myself when I see that blasted box. :/
Amanda.....Any fault of ours causing fatalities is far outweighted by the perils they would have faced in nature now days. So many people as soon as they spot a few holes in a plant bring out the pesticide. Then there is OE which is a disease Monarch adults pass on on the eggs of their young, the wasp parasites which farmers release in the millions to protect their crops. If they survive that then there is the preying mantis, lizards, wasps, asassin bugs, frogs and birds.
From research done like BCH said, only less than 5% survive to mate. So don't beat yourself up! Any effort is success if you release more than had died. I have drowned them rinsing leaves, thrown them in the trash, stepped on them and squished them with the lids of cages. Everytime we make a mistake it is info that will help someone else too so glad you shared it.
Well said Sheila!! even if we accidentally kill 4 out of 5 that we attempt to raise that is an increase of 400% survival
Seeing more TST's and monarchs these days--I have been checking my parsley, dill, and wild carrots and haven't found one BST cat this year.
Being a newbie I do not know whether a shortage of cats is normal for this time of the year.
Nary a one.
Be well.
(o_O)
Amanda, I'm too like most of us newbies at raising cats. We've so much to learn, but whatever effort we give the butterflies -- likes, Sheila and BCH already stated -- is a big help considering there is only a small percentile made it to fly out in the wild. I recently found some BSTs cats. 1/3 of them are now in chrysalides stages. I'm excited for their chance to be out in the garden. Today I lost two 2nd or 3rd instars. One drown and the other turned color as if spider or some wasp must have gotten to it before I brought it inside. The others happy 'campers' that have a brighter future are pictured here. ^_^
This year it maybe slow, but presently I've seen quite a few of eastern TSTs and some skippers. More Sulphers, and a mid-range orange color butterfly -- Flyboy, I hope I've got myself some monarch!
-heavy sigh-
You all have made me feel better about that experience last year. I have wanted to purchase one of those nice large butterfly cubes that are pre-fab, but disposable cash is hard to come by.
I purchased a roll of window screen last year. It would be great if I could make something myself to house the cats as they grow and even to keep them in chrysalis stage. I have seen so many different "set-ups" and I really can't spend a cent. I have been saving wide-mouth glass jars, but I really don't have the space or time, I don't think to rotate individual containers when we get 30 or more cats at a time (and they WILL come, darnit!).
Any thoughts on "frugal" cat rearing will be appreciated. ;)
A.
I really don't use the cubes to raise cats, I use them to hold the chrysalis after the cats pupate. Talk to your local plumber repair place and ask if you can take some of their wasted 1" PVC off their hands. You can make all types of cubes out of that and some netting. I use packing styrofoam strips inside between the bars to pin up the chrysalis.
I cut a hole in the net on the side and glued soft foam to the edge to make a door. You could use velcro or a zipper if you are a good at sewing. This was a very early cage for me but was functional for a emerging cage.
Thank you Sheila for sharing that idea of home made cages.
This one is on the inside showing the stryo strips and the way they climb up after they emerge. These are glued but now I pin them, it is much safer for them and my fingers!
Love to share Lily....both mistakes and sucesses.
Sheila, is there a reason to have the chrysalides on low plane, so if the newly emerging butterfly is to fall, it won't hurt bad? Also how do you pin the chrysalides when you move them into the safe place?
I like your cage Sheila, even if you bought everything new I'm thinking $15.00 max.
I am smiling at your pictures Sheila because I see the clothespin on the inside and it reminds me of other things I've rigged with clothes pins. :)
You think the window screen is okay to use in place of netting? I have lots of dried bamboo I've collected for my trellises this year. I wonder if I could use that to make something? Thinking A frame now.
Maybe I'll try to borrow another 10 gallon tank or two. I remember a neighbor offered me one last season.
Thanks for the thoughts. I think I have time to get something set up.
A.
Amanda...whatever you use make sure to wash it with a 5% bleach solution, then rinse and thouroughly dry before putting any cats in them. Especially after the batch that died, that tank needs cleaned.
Personally, I don't like using big heavy things because I can't clean them everyday, but then I am retired and have time to do it. This was my set up before we put paneling up on the walls of the shop.
Sheila - yours is the set up that makes me green. :)
I gave up on that big tank after that happened. The 10 gal is quite small and easy to clean. The screened lid made it easy for them to do their thing at the top of the tank, but harder for me to take off the lid and get in there!
I'll work at it hard this week and next because I just KNOW they are coming. :D
A.
;~))
The monarch population here has exploded over the last week--everytime I go out now I see multiple monarchs--have been seeing lots of mating flights
Just went outside, and this male monarch was kind enough to pose for me on a swamp milkweed
So glad to hear the monarchs are multiplying up there.
BCH, it's time to show them the GPS again, pointing South please.
OK, I will break out my old Sweet Home Alabama Cd again!!
LOL! Guess I need to play the one that says "south of the border down Mexico way" to get them toward Texas.