Thursday, August 30, 2018

We Have Butterflies!!

It happened...





3 have emerged...


On August 29th,
I awoke to the hubs gently stating "we have butterflies"!
I wrote on Facebook that I awoke to him "yelling" "we have butterflies",
he didn't like the yelling part, he says it's not true...
- you be the judge -

We were both pretty darn excited...
the next step is to let their wing dry for at least 1 hour.
We did not know what time they emerged from chrysalis, so we decided to leave them for 1 hour, 
just to be safe.
During that hour, another 1 emerged, now we had 3.
I left them another full hour because they all look the same and I did not know who emerged last.

Releasing them was a beautiful moment...
- kind of -
but they didn't really want to go, kinda' like kids these days, they just hung on.
First they hung on to me and then to the milkweed.

After I thought about it...why would they...
I cleaned their cage twice a day,
provided fun branches for them to climb on 
and brought them food at least 4 times per day, 
no wonder they didn't want to leave!
After leaving them outdoors on the milkweed,
I checked on them frequently, and one at a time, they "flew the coop"!

You can read the beginning of their journey here
and the last update I wrote here, which is a bit of a summary.
I have 22 21 left, this is surely much more exciting then cleaning up their poop,
although I am still doing that!

I'm pretty sure I have all black swallowtails, but I am still hopeful for 1 
Yellow Easter Tiger Swallowtail

ps...as I typed this post this morning, another butterfly emerged!!

24 comments:

Kim said...

Oh wow, how exciting for you, watching nature 'give birth'. Fabulous photos. I love the one where the butterflies are on either side of the flower....perfect symmetry.

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

I wuv flutterbys

David M. Gascoigne, said...

It really is a satisfying experience. This was done by small numbers of naturalists for years but in recent years it has caught on and many more people are raising butterflies. It is a way to have intimate contact with nature and hopefully if engenders a love and respect for all creatures, not just the ones that are cute or serve our needs. As for husbands yelling, we never do that!

Changes in the wind said...

You must really love them to have such patience:) They are really pretty.

Sandi said...

Beautiful!

Louca por porcelana said...

They are beautiful!How stunning!

IanH said...

Fantastic!

Marie Smith said...

They look so bright is all their young glory! Exciting!

Lady Fi said...

Wow wow wow

Linda said...

You make such excellent photos that it’s like we are seeing them truly! I’m so glad we are Facebook,friends because I love all your photo posts!
I love how you love nature - all of the flora and fauna - and then share it with all of us!!

italiafinlandia said...

Well done! What an amazing experience it must be!...

Lowcarb team member said...

This is wonderful :)
I love your photographs of them too.

All the best Jan

bj said...

Your photos of them are wonderful

Ruth Hiebert said...

They are such gorgeous creatures.

Susie said...

I am so glad you got photos. I love it...I would be yelling. LOL. Blessings, xoxo, Susie

Jean said...

What a beautiful way to start your morning!

Karen Lakis said...

Oh my goodness - and they are soooo beautiful!!!

LeAnn said...

Wow, this is exciting. It is like having kids; kind of in a very different sort of way. No matter, I loved it. Especially, your hubby waking you up to the good news. The photos are spectacular. I did enjoy reading how you care for and nuture these beautiful creations of nature. The cleaning up of poop isn’t my favorite part but necessary in caring for the young.
Big blessings and hugs!

MarmePurl said...

Well done Madam Butterfly.

Angie said...

Oh, Debbie, this is so amazing. They are so robust and healthy looking. Clearly, your care has yielded stunning results. Your kid analogy is a good one - we all want our kids to leave home and to be successful, but a little part of your heart breaks every time. Congratulations on this achievement!

DeniseinVA said...

This is amazing and also heartwarming to see your love and dedication. Applauding here as I leave. Great job Debbie and always love your fantastic photographs.

Sue (this n that) said...

Oh Debbie! They're so grand... no wonder you are so proud of them.
It must be really hard to see them go after all your tender looking after. Well done and thanks so much for each gorgeous photo.
(ha ha ... "gently stating " ) ;D) xx

Brian King said...

That's awesome! Such beautiful butterflies! You're a good mom!

sanpiseth40 said...

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