My first eclosing experience!!!!!!!!

Well, I woke up this morning at 8 and went into my hobby room as I do every morning, to check on my cats, and there was one hanging off the mesh, wings still a little crimped!!! I was ecstatic! I left her alone (I'm calling her HER, but I don't know yet how to determine the sex, I need to do that before anymore eclose!), but kept going to check on her, and her wings steadily straightened out. By the time we returned from our walk, she was flexing her wings and had moved around in the crate, so I figured she was probably ready. I reached in with a zinnia flower and she readily stepped on to it, and I brought her out thru the window over the garden. My husband held the flower while she posed for a few photos, and then she just up and flew away!!!! By then, it was 10:30. And I spent the rest of my morning feeling like I'd just sent my child out into the world! I never had kids but I imagine this is how moms must feel when they send their child to school the first day. It made me so emotional, thinking about sending that beautiful creature out into this hostile world. I SO hope she'll do all right.

....looking around a little, in the crate....

....baby's first flower......

...such a beauty......sadly, each of my photos came out with a blurry area, and I discovered that there was a smudge on the lens! Darn! I was out in the garden last night taking photos of a green fig beetle in my butterfly banana feeder; he must've been annoyed and tossed a blob of banana at the lens. @$%*# paparazzi.....

Congratulations!!!! He/she Is Beautifullly.

I can`t wait to have that kind of experience,I found our first set of BST cats this morning and I am rushing around to find them homes and learn the Proper way to care for them.

Congrats, Thea! How sweet that you are so concerned to be releasing your baby out into the big bad world. Awwww ........

BTW - It is a male.

This is what the female looks like (more blue along the bottom of the wings.)
http://davesgarden.com/bf/showimage/10/

Usually males emerge first for whatever reasons, and then the females. Sometimes a week apart. I'm sure he'll find a mate and be back to visit you!

This message was edited Aug 3, 2007 2:47 PM

Becky, Thanks for the info!!! What a terrific picture on that link!!! Comparing that to my photos makes it easy to see the difference.

What a beautiful butterfly. Well done, Thea!

Carla

Thea, Thea. Congratulations are in order. This is just the thread I have been waiting for. I am so happy for you and so glad it was a successful eclosing and successful release into the wide, wide world. You should be proud but I can imagine a little sadness there too. Well you have gone through the ordeal now, all the way to the end for at least one BF. Now see the next time you will not be near as nervous or frantic. You have done a great thing girl. I am just so proud for you. And smudge or not those pics are great. I love baby's first flower.

Leslie

Yippee!!!! It's a boy! Great job Thea, the pics are great too. Glad your first posed for you to get pictures. Now you're ready, you will be an experienced mid-wife next time! LOL!

You all are so helpful and nice, thank you so much!!! My winged children and I appreciate all of your encouragement and information, we couldn't have done it without you!!!!

I forgot to say, hubby seems pretty proud too as he was there with you during the release. A lot of hubbies probably think this is pretty silly and crazy but yours was right there with you. Very nice.

Leslie

I called a gardening neighbor when I was going to release two one day. Her DH came along too! My DH has released several for me when they are ready in the afternoon and I am at work. It gives them more time to get a place for the night. He takes pictures and sends them to me at work! LOL!

Beautiful butterfly!! You must have been proud to see it take to the wild. Good for you!!

Thanks for sharing with us,

Chuck

That is so awesome, Thea!! Congrats!! :) Gorgeous!!

Hey Sheila. You have a good man there. Does he love it as much as you or just know how important it is to you and therefore it is important to him? I really don't mean to put down DH's. And I know my exhusband would humor me and help me out in these situations but he would not completely understand it. Then my brother-in-law was pretty funny yesterday. He said he had seen a black butterfly with spots on it hovering around my dill. I have already had one set of Swallowtail cats on the dill this year and it has finally grown back up. So he said he saw one hovering around so he smashed it really good under his boot. (he is totally joking people I promise). I asked why he would do such a thing and he said he did not want it messing with all those little worms I like eating up my dill. LOL. I thought it was pretty funny and he did mean it to be funny. So he knows how much this stuff means to me, he just really does not understand it so much. He is not so much into preserving animals and insects and such. He grew up on a farm and ate his own pets so to speak so ya know, he has a different mindset than me. Anyway, Sheila, that is very sweet of your DH and I am happy for you.

Leslie

He hates gardening and doesn't care that much about my "worms" as he calls the cats. lol! Funny though, he will go in the room where they are in the afternoon and check on them and call me if I had one eclose that day. But he has a nice high end camera that he loves to take pictures with and to edit them afterward. So we compliment each other.


Ok Thea......what is the score??? How many have you released???

That's funny, Sheila and Leslie, my hubby insisted all thru the process, on calling the cats WORMS. Of course, the first time he did it, I acted annoyed, so he HAD to keep it up. It's a man thing.......

Sheila, I'm running back and forth checking the crate and no one seems ready to follow my first guy!!! Sure keeps you on pins and needles!!!!! And there I put a nice fresh zinnia in the crate after my first born left home, to welcome the next butterfly to appear, thinking they'd all start popping out, and NOTHING. I can't wait! I guess once you have this experience, you want to repeat it over and over! My life will seem quite dull once they've all flown.

Thanks Chuck for chiming in! Yes sir, what a great experience, I'm just loving this!

Oh Thea, I'm rooting for you to have many many more to release! This bf raising has really filled a void for me, I tell ya. Its too hot to weed the beds anyway. Even though they make me a little nervous, actually seeing those spiders and lizards get the cats in the flower beds makes me all that much more determined to "save" as many as I can find.

Thea-

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your experience and enthusiasm.

I agree with Cordeledawg- it's too miserable to be in the yard. I have the dreaded summer cold, and I just went to let the dogs out and I swear it's too hot to breathe.

Jenny