You could also make your own 'breezy' containers. Make a frame out of something, wood, pvc pipe, whatever and wrap it in screen. If you don't feel like being that creative/crafty (like me) I found some picnic plate covers, they're a metel mesh. One I sewed screen around it and found a plastic bowl, drilled holes in it and sewed the bottom of the screen to the bowl. I use that (hung up, didn't add anything for support to stand it up) for my chrys. to eclose in. And the other I found another (happens to match) plastic bowl. I drilled a few small holes in the bowl, took some wierd yarn/string stuff, tied the plate cover to the bowl. There's 5 strings. And the neat thing is, all I have to do is untie the strings and toss the 2 halves in the dishwasher to disinfect. Below is a link to a simular mesh cover. I bought mine for a buck each at a Dollar General store. And the bowls I used were "Wavy" bowls at walmart for 75 cents. The wavy bowl gave me a little lip on the edge to drill holes in. Be creative! There's lots of stuff out there you can make cages out of. Wire Mesh trash cans, dollar stores usually carry small version. Or the mesh baskets.I find myself looking in the summer clearance stuff lateley go ooh! I could make a cat cage out of that! and that! But I don't really need anymore.... Oh, I did take 2 plastic bottoms from 2 plant pots (the things that are supposed to catch the water), It had 3 raised bumps where it originally attatched to the pot, stuck some small pvc pipe (really small) over 2 of the raised bumps, then attatched the other plastic thing face down on top of the pvc and wrapped it in some screen I had left over, w/ an opening in the front. Made a neat little 10" diamter, 12" tall cage. See, you can use anything! Here is a link that might be useful: mesh food covers

Susan, There is no doubt you folks in the south are taking care of our yearly broods since they return to us every year. :O) This year has been spectacular! I have released around 67 so far and have another 12+ cats on the go right now. I am waiting to see if there will be more as sometimes the Monarchs lay eggs in early September here. I have noticed that they don't stay in the gardens as long these days as they did about a couple of weeks ago so they must be heading your way. Some were released and named by my nieces and nephews just this past week so make sure to say Hi! to Tommy, Beth, Emilie, Rafuse, Pierre, Rose Alma, Angele, and the rest of the gang!!

Sandy ... sorry to be so long in getting back with the results of my project of making indoor butterfly rearing cages. I ended up buying netting at Hancock's. It was on sale at $1.39 a yd and it is 50 inches wide so plenty of netting for not much money. The smallest tomato cage my Wal-Marts is carrying this year is about 13" diameter at the big end, too large to fit in the throw away Pizza pans I purchased. Today I discovered smaller tomato cages at my local nursery and they are the correct circumference at 12 inches. In the photo below, the cage on the right is one I put together using the smaller tomato cage and it turned out quite well. I set the tomato cage upside down in the middle of a piece of netting, pulled up the netting and secured at the top. Then I ran a bead of Gorilla glue around the wire at the bottom, making sure to press the netting against the wire. When dry, I took scissors and trimmed out the center netting to create the opening at the bottom. The one on the left I created by using netting to form a tube with a french side seam, then hand sewed the netting to the base. It required a bit less netting. I don't have a sewing machine so had to do the seam by hand. I think using a sewing machine, it wouldn't take but a few minutes to create the tube and to run a small casing on the bottom of the tube, insert a bit of elastic in the casing and pull it tight enough to fit under the bottom wire. This way, the netting could be gently washed and disinfected, and used over and over. I still might be able to disinfect these in their present configuration but sitting them out on the deck and spraying with a light bleach mix, rinsing well and allowed to air dry in the sunshine. I didn't think I'd have the hand strength to cut the wires so I just bent them back inside the 'top' of the cage. If anyone ever locates the large 5 gal paint strainer that will work with the small tomato cages, please come here and let us know the maker and model #. I've been unable to locate strainers large enough to fit on the tomato cages. After using more than a few types of rearing apparatus, this style provides two important benefits for me. Easy to clean by lifting the cover to clean pan and replace fresh 'diaper' material :-) and for ease of replacing fresh food. The cats will enjoy excellent, healthy air movement plus enjoy being able to climb when they're ready to create their chrysalis. I expect the netting will provide the rough surface they favor when looking for just that right spot to form their J. I'll have to get the baby cats into their 2nd instar before putting them in the big cages but that is something I've always done anyway. I will report back after I've raised a group of little cats and give a summery of how they worked for me. Mary photos of my homemade rearing cages: Here is a link that might be useful: a source for very fine mesh fabric for outdoor use

My faith in humankind has been restored on this beautiful Lord's Day! As I prepare to go to Church & worship my God above, the one who has been taken out of schools, courthouses, & many homes in this day & time, it is so good to see a great bunch of people that are 'back to the basics I was brought up with, in rural NC. I feel that my love for nature & the 'calling to raise b'flies' has been given to me from God, it is the greatest therapy for a person that lives in daily agonizing pain, & I have done that since '82. It has gotten me off of the sofa, looking at soaps. Never was one to pop pills, though there were pills given by the various drs, for Lupus pain, Fibromyalgia pain, which is unrelenting, pain from 3 failed lower back surgeries, & so on. But I can go outside, among my plants, (with a very moderate amount of pain medication), which have always been a hobby all my adult life, & find a peace, unlike any other. Seeing the seeds planted, growing each day, & the growth spurt after the evening t-shower, more than if I had given a good dose of fertilizer, knowing the purity of the water released from the heavens above has a growing power unlike anything man can make. I am not a fanatic, but I do find a special inner peace watching the creation emerging from the chrysalis, knowing it "went in as a caterpillar", came out as a beautiful creation, & that amazing change was done by One greater than I or anyone I know, on this earth in the flesh, today. We all are doing our part to make this world a better place to live in. We are, I believe trying to help get back to that time when the earth was a cleaner place; before the dirt & smut was so in control. I can remember when a young teen guy wouldn't go out without his jeans being starched & ironed, with that sharp crease, & that button down collar wasn't just right. Some of you probably don't remember those days. But in sharp contrast, the more ragged, & dirtier they can look, the better they like it. No more neat clean hair styles, but unkept unruly, & dirtier they look the more "in" they are. I am not being judgemental, to each to his own. But to get out among the plants, gives me a sense of being in contact with something good & clean, no matter how bad the pain, or what is on my mind, I can find a sense of peace unlike any other place, during the normal weekday. I enjoy my Church & what I find there, but I feel I bring part of that home with me, in scripture I hear, sometimes it is reflected in my activities outside during the week. None comes to mind at the moment, but God is so good, to give us these beautiful creatures, & place the love in our hearts to want to help them. To go beyond planting the flowers, but to go that step further that some don't understand. Let them take one egg, watch it go through the stages of growth, into the pupa, then the beautiful chrysalis of the Monarch, especially, like a piece of jade that a master artisian sculpted, & flecked with gold, I sat in total awe when I saw my 1st one, & then to watch when it gets transparent, & see the new creature inside. And, on to the final stage, when that beauty of the spread drying wings is present, they are magestic. Nobody can tell me that came as a result of the 'big bang theory'! Not even sure what they say made the ocean that this big bang or whatever it was supposed to have been. Some magical force? No, a Creator, that loved us enough, & I won't go any further, but we are all giving nature some help that the world has taken away. And we wonder why there are guns in schools, & knives.. I well remember the shock in our small town when the "No guns or knives allowed on school property" sign went up! The very thought of this was shocking, & then the rest is history. We are doing our part to help keep our world a better place to live. I don't know of too many men or ladies who raise b'flies who shot their c-store operator, or robbed the bank, or turned out to be serial killers. Didn't mean to go on so, but I see God Almighty in every butterfly that I release, & I thank Him for giving me the 'want to' to do this hobby. I just found a picture that I took of my first BST & a little saying I felt inspired to write "For by watching the phases of the butterfly, from the egg, to the caterpillar, all the way tp the final stage, the beautiful butterfly; surely we see the Hand of God at work, before our eyes, in today's world, as in the days of old, and appreciate even more His Wonderous Love for us daily." The photo is old, & the ink of the writing is a bit smeared, but it is so special to me. This was before I knew anything about butterflies & the terms, etc. Love to you all & In God I do trust..monarchs