A Wasp and my Monarch Butterfly Habitat

I have written several blogs about safety and Damsel in Defense. My passion is to protect you and those you love with a safety tool. Better to have it and not need it, especially in our world today. Women, men, children and elders - we have something for everyone.

With spring just around the corner, I'd like to revisit a story I posted some time ago.

I have another passion; Monarch Butterflies. My back yard is a Habitat, registered with the National Wildlife Federation. That's another story to tell how that came about. It is also registered as a Monarch Butterfly Habitat.

This one particular day I was checking on my Milkweed and encountered a wasp killing a caterpillar. The wasp didn't live long. I saw other caterpillars, gathered them up and put them in a box, the top covered with Saran Wrap, holes punched in it for air. They were crawling around and within days a few chrysalises appeared and were attached to the Saran Wrap. That was a surprise.

So begins this adventure. I found butterfly houses online, ordered a couple of them and transported the caterpillars to their new house. I cut the Saran Wrap around where the chrysalis was attached and simply used a straight pin to attach them to the netting.

In nature only one out of a hundred survive. When I learned that it empowered me to continue on with this mission to help the species. Not only do I do safety presentations with Damsel in Defense, I've done Monarch butterfly presentations as well. I've inspired several people to join the mission of saving these beautiful creatures.

It has been an adventure of trial and error and a lot of researching. Not all of them survive which saddens me but considering the success I've had it makes this mission worthwhile. To date I've released almost 1000. I've had many born with crippled wings so they can't fly so I put them in another house, a bottle cap with honey and water (sometimes I have to show them where it is) and I've had several live for 6 weeks. Palliative care for Monarch butterflies!!

Watching them lay eggs on the underside of the Milkweed leaves, gathering them up and putting them in a container until they hatch is absolutely amazing! It takes a month from egg to butterfly and watching the transition is something to behold. I've watched them chrysalis and then 2 weeks later I've watched them break out of it. It is hard to believe that they used to be a little egg and then a caterpillar.

This adventure started with a wasp. I'm not fond of them but that one particular day a new adventure was presented to me and the rest is history! Should you be interested in joining this mission, I'd be happy to share everything I know with you!