Date: 07/23/2019

Number: 500

seriously. There was almost nothing happening with cats or eggs over the last month. Suddenly there were miles of eggs...then today, miles of tiny tiny cats. I collected at least 110, and probably many uncounted. At least 60 were from a milkweed patch at the school that is slated for destruction.

Editor's note: contacted observer for more details on her estimate:

Observer's reply: Next day, ah, the magic! Most of the eggs (reported earlier) had turned to tiny tiny caterpillars. There were perforations netting the leaves. I decided to collect another 15 or 20 for our raising sites, trying to be low key. But within 15' of picking from some small juicy milkweed that had been rebounded from being mowed a few weeks earlier, I had 50 in my bucket. My friends say I have OCD -- Obsessive Caterpillar Disorder! I stopped at 50, but couldn't resist looking, and found that every little plant in that particular patch about 65' x 20' was perforated and there were little cats on every leaf. Then I went back to town center to a patch about 30' x 6', next to a restaurant. With a couple of other people we counted -- on one pass -- 90 cats. and eggs everywhere! Really, too many to count.

Indian Lake, NY

Latitude: 43.8 Longitude: -74.3

Observed by: DAISY
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