Caterpillar update.....

I know it's been a couple of days since I posted about the family, but as of today, 10 of my original 12 caterpillars are now in their chrysalis!! And, from my two days of milkweed hunting, I found three eggs, two of which have hatched. Unfortunately, I lost one of my babies. No, it didn't die, I just can't find him! my third egg should be hatching any time now!
But, enough talk, it's time for pictures!!! Once the chrysalis is dried, you can touch it. That is when I moved two of my caterpillars from their make-shift cage to a mesh butterfly house, which is actually a pop-up laundry basket. It's a very delicate process:

First, you scrape the chrysalis off the top. That white stuff is what attached the caterpillars to the top of the trash bin. It's very similar to a spider's web. You have to be careful not to rock the chrysalis too much.

Next, put a dab of hot glue onto a paper towel. wait until it isn't not, but still wet, and then attach the chrysalis to the paper towel as close to the stem as possible, but NOT by the chrysalis itself.


Attaching the chrysalis


This is what the finished product should look like. Isn't it pretty? With the pale green color, and specks of gold all over!


Once the glue is fully dried, fold down a bit of the top of the paper towel. Bend a paper clip until it is in an "S" shape. Then, poke a hole through the folded part of the paper towel.


And then all that's left to do is to hook the paper clip holding the paper towel onto the side of the mesh laundry bin and.......


Voila!!!! There you have it! The caterpillars are ready to emerge and have a nice spacious place to stay until they are able to be released!