Ann, we have Big Cat Rescue here in Tampa, but I don't think they have any Florida panthers. What they do have is impressive, though. Actually, come to think of it, I got to pet a Florida panther once. It's weird I forgot about it until just now. I was in elementary school and they brought one to show us and it laid down on a table and we all got in line, real quiet, and one by one, we went up and petted it (if you wanted to). I remember thinking I may have to tell my grandchildren one day about how I petted a species that was now extinct. But things are looking up for them so here's hoping.
Glen, I get worried every time the scientists introduce one thing to combat another. Recently, they've released these beetles in Florida that eat air potato vine which is incredibly invasive here. It covers all the way up the trees so they get no light and die. I hope these beetles are safe, but I can't help but worry when we start messing with the ecosystem.
In butterfly news, one of the Spicebushies has made a chrysalis which is also a shade of yellow. Maybe for fall?
I get the feeling these guys are going to overwinter with me. I may have to start an overwintering cage for all the chrysalises that refuse to come out.
Oh, my boss at MOSI posted on Facebook that the first email she had to send out the other day was to inquire who left the baking pan full of moth eggs and hatchlings in the lab. Apparently, we have become the pound for caterpillars. She offered them many types of food since she didn't know what they were - too small to identify. But she has since narrowed it down to either Regal Moths (more Hickory Horned Devils!) or Imperial Moths (never raised those before!). Either way, I'm excited.
