This August when the kids and I returned from Nova Scotia, there were giant weeds at the end of the driveway and they looked terrible. So out came the gardening shears and down went the weeds. Then I spied a rather large, white, yellow and black striped caterpillar. I showed Wild Child and she thought it was pretty neat too. The next day I used one of our favorite homeschooling tools: Google. I discovered it was a monarch caterpillar, and I had just cut down every plant of his food source from the end of the driveway: milkweed.
I felt awful and we talked about it as a family, looking at photos and reading more information about them. Within the next week we had found two smaller ones. We learned that they were in instar 2, how to find more milkweed and how to keep them safe.
So we fed them and kept them safe. We watched videos on YouTube (MrLundScience has a great series on his channel). I joined The Beautiful Monarch group on Facebook, learning more and more every single day. Then, on the same day, they both went into “j” and then chrysalis, which is not the same as forming a cocoon, but is simply the caterpillar shedding it’s skin. (We have learned so much!)
Now, because it’s late in the season and we live in Ontario, Canada, they are in chrysalides/chrysalises for a lot longer and they still have not eclosed more than 40 days later.
Meanwhile, we were on the back patio working on a solar system model, when First Born (7) noticed a wild chrysalis hanging from the roof of the carport, already turned black almost clear.
The next day, this male butterfly eclosed and after he fell to the ground, we were able to get him
to climb on our hands so we could move him to a safer place to dry his wings.
Monarchs need to hang upside down and flex their wings, pumping fluid into them, for about a day before they’re ready to fly. Again, because it’s colder than normal, it took him quite a few days (and a run in with our kitten) before he flew off on his way to Mexico.
It has been an incredible learning experience for us all and we will plant milkweed to invite more caterpillars next year!
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