Don't be so hasty to clear out dead cuttings from your cage!

I was cleaning out my cage yesterday. About a week ago, I'd seen a Monarch laying eggs on my milkweed. Immediately after she left, I cut the tops off the plants and stuck them into some little pots in my cage that were filled with soil. Yesterday those plants were looking just horrible. So I plucked them out and tossed them into the chiminea.

This morning, I took my first cup of coffee out to check on my cats. I have lots of GF cats in my cage in various stages. I always look in the mornings to see if anyone has had the urge to "do their thing". Much to my surprise, this morning I found an itty bitty monarch cat on one of the still horrible milkweed cuttings that I missed yesterday.

I almost dropped my coffee cup as I scrambled to the chiminea to see if there were any on those dead looking cuttings I'd tossed in there yesterday. Each one had several tiny cats on them. I pulled them back out of the chiminea and stuck those pitiful cuttings back into the soil of the little pots and went to cut fresh cuttings for my newest babies!

I grilled some steaks last night on the grill. Ordinarily, I would take any coals that were left after cooking and put them into the chiminea to burn out any collected refuse. I didn't do that last night... Thank Heavens!

These guys are only about 1/8" long. Can't believe I spotted them!

Janet

Whew!

Close one Janet, I did the same thing...I have a trash can by the bf cage and was throwing the shriveled stalks and leaves in there. One day I saw some tiny cats crawling out, so I went through the trash and found several more. I'm pretty sure thye were eggs that hatched in the trash, because I had looked very closely...with my glasses on. Poor little things....I don't know how they survived on the stuff I had thrown in there.

Fortunately, I hadn't tossed anything else into the chiminea yesterday or last night. I almost plucked some dead shrivelled leaves off the floor of the cage and tossed them out.... just a little bit ago.... then I slapped my forehead and did a DUH... and had to tell myself to quit being so anal about picking up after the rascals. I do sweep out the frass with a small whisk broom and dustpan. That has worked out mighty dandy.

Now I'm wondering how many shrivelled leaves I tossed out earlier this week. At least I am tossing the frass into the center island.... hoping that if by some chance "something" is on a leaf, etc.... that it will still have a chance. I don't know why in the world I didn't do that with the milkweed cuttings yesterday. They might have been harder to find this morning had I done that. I suppose, as usual, the Good Lord was watching over both me AND those tiny cats!

Janet

that was a close call. Glad you found them

That WAS a close call. I still can't believe that I threw them out. I knew there were eggs on them. That's WHY I put them in the cage. I felt like such a lousy mother this morning.

All day I've been looking to see just how much milkweed I have left. I've made several cuttings from the yellow milkweed that Connie donated to the cause, to try and start some new plants. Even so, I figured there just wouldn't be enough to sustain the munchers. I was pleasantly surprised that some of the milkweed that I'd put in the cage when I first set it up still looked pretty good and that it had rooted in the little copper pot. I hadn't noticed the milkweed plants in the back of the cage because there are so many passion vines in there right now feeding the GFs.

Connie and I were at Home Depot the other day and spotted some red silky milkweed. I didn't get any then because I figured I'd have enough to last until spring. I went back today and bought 3 plants.... just to make sure. If these guys don't eat it all, I'll still have it for the spring. If they do, well ... they do. I sure hated paying almost $6 each for the plants, but I suppose they are worth it. Maybe this will make up for my "lousy mother" moment. :-)

Janet

I'll normally look things over (but sometimes you just can't see inside a dead leaf!) so I always throw the dead leaves etc. in the area of the garden where I got it. That way if there is something left on it they can find their way to a live plant.

Paige, Connie's parent plant (the yellow milkweed) is parked in the center island. That's usually the general area where I toss the "stuff" (shrivelled leaves, etc.) that comes from the cage.

Having never had a cat cage, I need to know.... Do I need to cover it with a blanket on colder nights like a bird cage? I'd hate it if I walked out there one morning and all of the chrysallises were dripping with icicles, etc. We've come this far, I'd hate to lose them due to my own ignorance in caring for these guys. I know they wouldn't have any such protection had they been left "in the wild". I just don't know that much about the "natural order of things" to know for sure what to do. The back of the cage is almost up against my house with 2 sun shades on the top to keep any rain from pouring in. 2 sides and the front door are exposed to air. Inquiring cat mama's wanna know.

Janet

Lucky for you and good for the new cats! I'm with Konkrete, I always toss out old leaves back near the plant I got them. Figure if I missed a cat or egg it will eventually find it's way to the nearby plant/food source.

~ Cat

Janet, I really don't know about leaving the cages outside because I always brought mine it. It was much smaller than yours tho. I'm sure if they do it outdoors naturally that they would be fine. Personally I'd cover it with a big blanket, but maybe that's just the mother in me. :)

My cage is in the garage where it's nice and toasty. When it's warm I roll it to the side yard.

Thanks for the advice. I will have to find a place in the garage or the dining room for the cage. It was about 40 this morning. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

Janet

Yes, they WILL die if the temps get too cold (40's or lower). I know this for a fact! I lost a number of them last year when I forgot to check the weather report and didn't bring them in!

Your cats died? I've seen cats alive outside after a very cold night. I can't remember if was freezing or not but it was in the winter. Poor babies!

I have a huge pile of passionvine that I had to cut down today, but it's not going to the compost! I looked thru it as much as possible and didn't see any cats but to be sure I'm going to just leave the pile on the side of the yard at the base of the main vines when we get the fence fixed.

We moved the cage into the dining room this evening. We are going hunting for several days. I do hope they behave themselves while I'm gone. There've been several that have snuck out, while the cage was out back. I sure hope they are all inside when we return.

Janet

Well, I think most of us that have eggs/cats in cages or containers have done things like that. I try to be careful. I have a magnifying glass, but don't always check leaves and cuttings with it. I use white paper towels on the bottom of the cage. Easier to clean up and easier to spot small cats that are hanging around on it.

Paige - Good idea! Sometimes the cats are just so small that you don't even see them! Sorry to hear that you had to drastically cut it back. You watch - it'll come back thicker and attract tons of GF and maybe, just maybe a zebra longwing or two in the Spring! :-)

Janet - Now you know .... that is just like giving the house to your teenage kids! They'll probably be partying hardy after the door locks behind you! lol Swinging from the fans, leaving their little poop all over the place, and you might even find a butterfly or two jamming it up on the ceiling! Do you leave a radio on when you are gone to make people think someone is home? If so, make sure you have it on a good party beat station! LOL!