Well, I must admit I enjoy reading more than writing. But I was talking to dad about it this morning and I was thinking maybe I should write something about pipevines since a lot of people probably don't know the tropical varieties kill the Pipevine Swallowtail cats. Or maybe something for herb gardeners telling them Eastern Black Swallowtail caterpillars are not the enemy? I'll think about it. It's funny because a lot of my friends from other hobbies have been telling me I should be a writer. My genealogy friends (and my therapist) think I should write about my family. I have a friend in Hollywood who likes the movie reviews I post on my Facebook page and thinks I should do movie reviews. And you guys want me to write about butterflies! Maybe I should just get the message already?
First off, here's some pictures of my Monarch cats from Monday. One was still eating but the other one made its "J". Mom made sure to inform me of that fact. As you can see from the picture of the cat that's still eating, it's pretty easy to find a cat if you look for the frass.
So today I did a general walkabout of the yard, just checking on everything. It's super nice outside. This is why all the Canadians come down here in the winter. Seriously, it's like, open your windows weather. Except I'm allergic to everything so that's a no-go. I saw a Gulf Frit and a Sulphur but they weren't stopping for anything. And I chased that Frit around for a while. I think it was a female because it kept landing on all the plants, just tasting them. I have two kinds of passion vine growing but it didn't seem to find either one. Silly butterfly. I did get some pictures of a Long-Tailed Skipper that was enjoying the porterweed. As you can see, that's my front door in the picture. Unlike lots of wildlife, butterflies will come right up to your house which is very convenient, in my opinion. Going to have to tell Mom it's time to change that wreath from "autumn" to "holiday". But then she'll blame Dad for not getting the decorations down from the space above the house (I don't think it qualifies as an attic, so I don't know what to call it).
And my Monarch friend decided to make a lovely chrysalis. The other one wandered off; I can't find him. Don't worry about that drop on the bottom; it's just water. The chrysalis is not leaking. Somehow, the weatherman's 10% chance of rain landed right over our house. For two days in a row. I'm not complaining, though. We'll take all the rain we can in the dry season.
