Date: 07/26/2019

Number: 4

While we have several kinds of milkweeds growing in the garden areas around our house this year, prior to today (7/26/2019), we have had no evidence of any Monarchs in our yard, be it eggs, caterpillars, or butterflies on the wing.

However, that changed today when we spotted at least 4 caterpillars on three different milkweeds (i.e., a tropical, a swamp, and a tuberosa).  They were all at least 2 centimeters long, so they have been here a while.  We just never spotted them before.

Granted, I'm recovering from hip replacement surgery earlier this month, so I've only been able to begin to get outside this week for a little bit of time and very short walks.  It's certainly not like the last few years when I wasn't limited to plodding along with a walker.  We had many milkweed plants growing in large pots on our deck that we could bring inside for protection and observation once eggs had been laid on them.

Nonetheless, I'm glad to have the cats now with us today.  It means the butterflies have once again discovered our gardens.  We'll be looking for them.

- Tim

Bellefonte, PA

Latitude: 40.9 Longitude: -77.8

Observed by: R. Timothy
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