I found this little guy out on my parsley today (I finally had time today fly_girl!). On another section was another really tiny one, but obviously a Monarch cat. This ones coloring is different. What kind of butterfly will s/he turn into?
And this caterpillar would be....???
Oh goody! You finally checked lol
It's a Black Swallowtail cat:
http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/13/
Congratulations! Can you put him in a cage? The cardinals love those guys!
Yea!! If my rear end cheeks didn't hurt so bad, I'd get up and do a dance!! LOL!
You ask a tough question because I know so many of you believe in bringing them all in. I just don't feel that way. There's checks and balances in the food chain of nature (in the way it's intended here in the US), so he'll have to fend for himself. I mean no disrespect to any of you that do bring them in, it just simply isn't my belief, and I hope you can respect my choice as I respect yours.
I respect that, I know Cardinals have to eat.
I'm not even going to ask about your rear end cheeks!
Our ecosystem here in this town is so out of whack, it isn't even funny. Non-native birds are the norm here. I do see an occasional Cardinal, but not like I want to. With time, and my plantings all get bigger, I think they'll find me ;) Thanks for understanding.
LOL! It's really not that bad about my rear end cheeks. My husband and I have been putting down visqueen and 5/8ths" rock under our front porch. I'm the one under, spreading it. The only to get the rock under there without getting it in all my mushroom compost is to use 5 gallon buckets. With the turning and that, that I had to do, I was using muscles I hadn't used in a while! I don't have abs of steel, I have a rear end of steel! LOL!
Terry,
Wish you the best with the BST in the garden. I felt the same way until I started watching them and each day I would have one less. Since I feed the birds, I decided to save the cats from the wasps, or the ones I find anyway. Hope yours fare better than those in my garden did.
We can't all have the same opinions, it would be a very dull world. Thanks to you for respecting the others beliefs on the thread.
Good picture, what about the Monarch you mentioned. It wouldn't be feeding on parsley. Do you have a milkweed in the area?
Sheila, as it stands right now, I do very little artificial feeding. That will all completely stop when the indigenous berry, nut and seed producing plants get to the right size. What I really need is about 5 acres in the country and all my plants, plus much much more and to get all the various critters to come to keep everything in balance. And yes, it would be a very dull world if we all thought the same. I have nothing but the utmost respect for those of you who choose to do things differently than me. My big goal is to be able to get bluebirds to nest here, and since I can't bring them in to protect them from the HOSP, then I feel I'm being a hypocrite to bring in the caterpillars. I hope that makes sense ;)
I thought it was odd that the Monarch was on the parsley too, but who am I to tell him or her what to lay on...lol. Yes, I have milkweed directly beside and behind the parsley. I checked a few hours later, when my job of spreading the rock under the porch was done, and the Monarch caterpillar was gone, but the Black Swallowtail caterpillar was still there. S/he seems to be wrapping him/herself in the leaf.