New Pets
My garden failed in everything except a pot of parsley.
Last week I noticed tiny green beads stuck to the parsley leaves, and a few days later some small black caterpillars, and now.... PETS!
Yep. Pet caterpillars.
Not Monarchs, though. They kind of look like the Monarch butterfly caterpillar, but these are Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Love the parsley. They totally destroyed my plant so I bought them some from the grocery store. I put the stems in a cup of water and it's holding up well enough---at the rate they're going they might eat it all before it wilts anyway!
I wish I'd taken their pictures on Wednesday when they were less than 1" long. Now they're a good 2" long. Let me introduce you:
So, if I can keep track of when and where they cocoon, maybe I'll see some butterflies hatch! Or maybe I won't. They don't seem to be as predictable as Monarchs. From what I read, they might hatch in two weeks, or they might winter over and hatch in the spring. In either case, I'll try to keep track of my new pets for you.
Last week I noticed tiny green beads stuck to the parsley leaves, and a few days later some small black caterpillars, and now.... PETS!
Yep. Pet caterpillars.
Not Monarchs, though. They kind of look like the Monarch butterfly caterpillar, but these are Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars. Love the parsley. They totally destroyed my plant so I bought them some from the grocery store. I put the stems in a cup of water and it's holding up well enough---at the rate they're going they might eat it all before it wilts anyway!
I wish I'd taken their pictures on Wednesday when they were less than 1" long. Now they're a good 2" long. Let me introduce you:
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| This one is named Parsley. Start up the music for Scarborough Fair. |
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| Sage. |
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| Rose, Mary, and And (yes, one of them is named And. Scroll down and see if you guessed why I named it And). |
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| Thymes |
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| Seven. Yes, this last one is named Seven. Kind of got a Wheel of Fortune TV show "before and after" clue going on. Also, I ran out of creativity and if he hadn't been named Seven, I'd have called him Runt 'cuz he's the smallest. Seven's better, right? |
So, if I can keep track of when and where they cocoon, maybe I'll see some butterflies hatch! Or maybe I won't. They don't seem to be as predictable as Monarchs. From what I read, they might hatch in two weeks, or they might winter over and hatch in the spring. In either case, I'll try to keep track of my new pets for you.
Comments
Of course I'm talking about the squirrels, dear Swans. But I could be talking about my brother too. :)