Butterfly/Cat Horror Story

I enjoy my garden and all the butterflies that lay their eggs on my plants! It's always a thrill to see the caterpillars with the anticipation of the soon-to-be butterflies!

The photo attached shows the group of Swallowtail cats feasting on my dill. It was such a delight to see so many cats in my herb garden knowing that they were just about fat enough to metamorph into their chrysalides. I had over 20 cats which is the most I have ever had at one time in my garden.

Fifteen minutes after I took this photo, I went inside to do dishes and was looking out the window at the garden. I suddenly noticed birds swooping down into the yard near the garden, so I went outside to investigate. To my horror, the birds were feasting on the nice, plump cats that I had just taken a photo of. I manage to save only one! I was horrified! How utterly disappointing!

This is just one of the reason I decided to learn about and raise caterpillars in cages. The wasps are cat predators, too! My butterfly success rate is much better now that they are raised in a cage. It's also fun to release them when they emerge as beautiful butterflies!

Anyone else have a "horror" story or garden blunder to share?

The photo is so COOL! I just started an herb garden and I am SO hoping for cats on my dill, parsley, rue.... It's very sad about the birds, though.

This message was edited Oct 5, 2006 10:04 PM

Oh,, so sorry about your cats,,, I just bought some dill seeds,, hope to attract more butterflies Elaine

Aaaaaawwwww Becky... what a shame to lose all those beautiful cats. Your photo make it look like a caterpillar bush. It's beautiful. I'm so glad you got photos to have as memories.



I had a Monarch laying eggs the other day and I've already seen one tiny cat. I had about 8 cats last month that didn't survive the other wildlife around the yard. I don't want that to happen again. Hopefully tomorrow, my sister and I can get the cat house built that I have in my mind. We've been shopping today and found some awesome fabric on sale to use. I've got plenty of cedar around here to make the frame, etc. I'll post some photos when we get finished with the project.

I've never grown dill because I don't particularly care to eat it. But this year, since I've seen folks referring to the dill as host plants, I plan to add it to my garden next year.

Does the same type of plant the cat is on have to be the one that is inside the cage, or can I use the dill as my cage plant, even though the cats are on the milkweed? The milkweed that I have planted in the yard has little yellow aphids all over it and I don't want those going into the cat house. Inquiring minds want to know these things.

Janet

Janet - What I have is a tall cage. I keep milkweed in 1-gallon pots as well as planted in the ground around my garden. I use the potted ones to put inside the cage. Monarchs are pigs! They can devour a plant in short order as they get bigger. So I always keep 5-10 healthy potted plants available sitting around in my garden until I need them for host food. When the cats chew them down. I prune them hard below the chew area near the base of the plant and set them back outside in the sun to re-sprout or to re-grow leaves. This method helps me to keep a constant "mobile" supply of food for the cats. Milkweed grows back fairly quick as long as it is watered and fertilized regularly. (Don't overwater, though.)

Dill is an attractant for a totally different butterfly - Swallowtails. My area Swallowtails have their choice of parsley, dill, rue, or fennel in my garden (as well as mobile pots of the same sitting around in my herb garden). For some reason, the butterflies prefer to lay their eggs on the dill. And the cats seem to like it better than the other host plants. Don't know why. Maybe predators don't like the smell or taste of the cats that eat the dill? I don't know. Though birds don't seem to mind what the cats eat. LOL!

When I see cats on the in-ground host plants, I remove them and put them on the potted versions and put them in a cage. I usually put my cage on my screened porch to protect the cats from rain. You can place paper towel cut-up pieces around the base of the potted plant to collect their droppings. It also can help prevent the spread of cat viruses than can wipe out any in a cage.

Thanks Becky!

That all sounds like just the information I will need to try and be successful at this new endeavor. I have a variety of butterlies around the yard. I've seen Monarchs, Gulf Fritillaries, Swallowtails and various Hairstreaks and Skippers. I plan on making my center island a wild explosion of color and herbs for butterflies next year.

In the meantime, I planted the 8 milkweeds I bought close together and the plants have a whole lot of activity from not only butterflies, but lady bugs, assassin bugs and the ever sneaky lizard or 10. I rescued a Monarch from the jaws of certain death the other day when a lizard caught it while it was laying it's eggs.

My yard is full of anoles. When they first began hatching, I was delighted because each little fella chose "his" plant and has really kept things pretty much bug free. The milkweed is the only exception and each of the blossoms and stems are covered in those hideous yellow wiggly aphids.

I will buy some new milkweed for the house tomorrow. I was thinking to build a planter inside of the cage, but now I'm thinking, after reading about changing the plants out, that wouldn't be such a good idea afterall. Thanks for the timely warning. :-)

Janet

Good save Becky, a cat will starve before it eats the wrong host plant!
Janet I know your heart sank when you saw those birds eating your beautiful cats, however the Anoles are going to want to gobble up your caterpillars for sure as quickly as the birds do, ya know. Also I have noticed that the plant the cat is hatched on is the best plant to keep with it. I tried transferring and it crawled off looking for Parsley, it seemed not to want the rue at all.
If ya ant to raise them in safety you will need a good cage and plenty of the plant you found them on. Make the cage where you can clean out the cat scat easily without disturbing them. Watch for mold on the soil of the plants too, which will make a death trap for them. Paige uses newspaper, and has a lot of success with that. Having the right kind of cage is everything. There are some very inexpensive cat cages..

http://www.nature-gifts.com/0711-butterfly-kits-observation.html

Another site I found tells how to build one, but I can't find it now. Paige and Cat have tons of ideas:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/643281/

:oDeb

Thanks Deb!

I've seen the sites you showed and do want something more substantial than just the mesh cage. I printed out the photos in the last link to use as a guideline for Connie on several of the cages that were shown. I'll be sure to try and take photos as we go along in the building process and then post them on DG.

I'm waiting to hear from Connie to see if we can get started on it today. Connie and Hubby, who are much more knowledgeable about building stuff made good suggestions also. Because I want to be able to bring the cage inside, to sit in front of my dining room window, hubby suggested that rather than build it so tall with wheels, etc., to build it so that it would sit on a table, more at the line of vision. My original plan was to cut the plant as it grew and re-root within the cage, but eventually, there would be no more leaves that way and they'd starve. While I want to be sure there is enough room for the plants to grow, I don't think they need a whole "city" to themselves. I'll most likely put in a shelf or 2 for herb plants that won't get quite so big.

I appreciate those of you that have had experience with this chiming in here. I'm down to the nth hour on getting it built so I'd best be getting my butt in gear here. I'm on my way to the lumber yard for some "parts".

Janet

I didn't make my cages, I just bought 4 of the Butterfly Farm Pop-up Pavillions (BH103) see link:
http://educationalscience.com/terrariums.htm

I can soak them in water with a little bleach added when they get dirty or when I have a problem with sick butterflies/cats (which ocassionally happens). There are caterpillar viruses that WILL wipe out an entire cage full of cats if you get a sick cat from an outdoor plant.

They are cheap and can be folded up to store when not in use. I've had mine for 2 years and just love them! Easy to assemble (you just pop them open!), relatively inexpensive, and easy to clean!

Oops ..... Actually, the link that Deb listed is where I actually purchased my cages. (Better price, too, than the link I listed!) My mistake!

I highly recommend using cages like these if you are serious about raising caterpillars.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww poor little cats.................................

Yep! I was very disappointed that all the potential BST butterflies were not to be! :-(

I love all creatures, but I dislike it when any creatures totally wipe out another in my yard. I doubt the birds will fess up! lol

Did they pick the who;e plant clean???????????????????????

Nahhhhhhhhhhhhh the birdies wont fess up................... LOL

Yep! Picked it clean except for one cat that somehow manage to get away. It was probably dropped by the piggy bird who did the damage! LOL

And yes ..... I put that poor traumatized cat in a cage and raised it to a butterfly! I believe it was a female BST. :-) And I have more babies now. (In cages of course!)

Boy does she have more Mr C!! If you have an hour or two you can catch up on the 250-300 rescued this year!! http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/667947/


Becky, I have a vision of you LOL!!.... Malnourished, hair uncombed, lack of sleep, drinking coffee to stay awake,.....and still out at the crack of dawn in your bed clothes... looking for that cat that you missed the night before!! I hope you have a sense of humor and know I am saying that in fun. You are doing a wonderful service to our butterflies. I just know if I tried to do what you are doing, ...well it wouldn't be a pretty site. LOL!

Shelia - ROFLMBO! Well ... I'm certainly NOT malnourished, hair ... well yes, does look pretty messy when I first wake up .... lack of sleep .... sometimes .... and I don't drink coffee. ....grape fruitopia! And in my jammies in the backyard at daybreak .... Absolutely! LOL

Well, this will REALLY give you a good laugh .....

I just rescued another 35-40 in the yard today. All these baby cats on the milkweed nubs. How could I leave them starving like that. So ..... bought more plants! And put them on the MW and into the cages. Here we go again! LOL

If I keep doing this through Spring, I'll be able to send y'all Monarch chyrsalises to supply your butterfly gardens with butterflies! LOL!

LOL... Laughing at your hair and jammies Becky. Reminds me of when I was living in Germany and would be out in mine, hair not even combed and running plates of raw eggs and fruit out around the yards and fields to feed baby Hedgehogs so they could get used to me so I could catch them easier to bring in the tiny things over the winter til they was big enough to release.

What we will do for our critters. : )

Oh my word, that many more today!! You are a trooper for sure!! I guess your weather stays pretty comfortable down there. We have been having freezes off and on for a couple of months now. It is going to be 70 this weekend. I know my Koi will appreciate the warm up too. They get to eat only when their water is above 50 degrees. LOL!

Now THAT is funny, starlight! ROTFLMBO!

ROFLOL!! Indeed!! Raw eggs??? Uck! To each his own!... But then I do like mine over easy, to some that my sound gross!

LOL... My German neighbors just put my crazy antics down to being a crazy American. : ) Think they got a kick out of watching me as much I had fun with the Hedgehogs. How can ya not love a critter that looks like this.

http://hem.passagen.se/hedgehogs/hedgehogs.html

They good for the gardens too. If you've never visted another country, I really recommend you save up and do and spend more than just a week or two. So amazing the things you can se e and learn if you jump in there with an open mind and a happy heart. Amazing to actually see how others around the world tend to their gardens and have such passions about growing and protecting critters in their areas too.

One of the nicest gifts I receive d when I lived there, was a piece of precious land to garden in. Woked side by side with my new friends and learned so many things from them and they from me.

Shelia. Yep raw eggs. Not too bad to look at. Only real problem is when ya stumbled over a roock or somethign and the darn things would slide off the plate on to your pink fuzzy slippers to match your pink fuzzy bathrobe. Still got the old long bright fuzzy pink bathrobe I would wear out on days when it was chilly while feeding critters. : )

Anyone else have a "horror" story or garden blunder to share?

My Mom had a horror story. We were so delighted when some bluebirds finally decided to nest in one of her bird houses. But we were horrified to find the babies on the ground with holes in their heads after a sparrow had taken over the bird house. We emptied out the bird house and took it down. Its just so crushing to be so close to seeing something that she had been working on succeed for a moment; and then fail so graphically. Nature is cruel.

If only we could bring the bluebird babies into the house like the caterpillars.

That is sad, but I don't want to get into a confrontational disccusion with everyone airing their views, so I won't comment more on it.
I can't wait until spring when the garden's began to show more life. I know some of the areas are having unseasonal warm weather. Our temps are not bad at all, but we had a freeze here two or so months ago that took care of a lot of plants for the season. I had seed pods just ready to ripen on my 'Silky Gold' milkweed, and they we gone in no time. A few feet away a Columbine wasn't touched, even though it looks fragile. Strange weather patterns this year. I hope to rescue some cats this year too. I have a lot more host plants this year.

joepyeweed - How sad. Unfortunately, that's how nature can be sometimes. There are so many predators of caterpillars, that it is a wonder any survive at all in the wild. And even when I bring them into the porch to raise them, 10-20% still die from bacteria or cat viruses.

Sheila - Our temps have been quite warm for this time of year! It's nice, but has made me a little edgy not knowing what's going on or how long it will last or what the long term consequences are going to be. It's very unpredictable. And the weather forecasters are often wrong. I don't think they can really predict weather, especially long term. They can only "assume" predictions from statistical analysis of past weather patterns. (Which of course, is NOT a completely reliable way to forecast weather.) I have to laugh, everytime they predict rain or hurricanes or whatever severe weather possibility there might be ..... they are usually wrong! It drives me crazy! I used to watch the weather channel for severe weather, but after the 2 hurricanes hit us in 2004, I've noticed that the WC seems to be capitalizing on people's fears, especially hurricanes and long term doomsday predictions. The weather reporters actually seemed disappointed that there was no major hurricanes to hit the USA this past year. I guess after going through 2004 and then seeing what Katrina did in 2005, it has left a scar on many, many people who live in coastal areas. Though in Florida, it's pretty much the entire state, not just coastal and low-lying areas. The tornadoes that are spun off of hurricanes often do worse damage than the hurricane itself. And those tornadoes can show up anywhere in Florida during a hurricane. (Which is exactly what happened in 2004 in my community.)

So as much as I love this warmer winter weather, it does leave an uneasy feeling among Floridians and probably folks in other states as well. This weather is far from the norm for this time of year! So one has to wonder what spring and summer are going to be like ...... =:-{