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Butterfly Garden

I've got GF and VF cats!

16 years ago

(And 1 iddy biddy monarch cat)

Went to my favorite nursery, and plucked 1 monarch cat. The went behind the CVS drugstore in Pawleys Island, my secret little spot where passionflower grows....and unfortunately, they're clearing the lot for building.....but the reworiking of the soil stimulated lots of new PF growth...and sure enough, my sone & I picked up about 8 cats, both GF and VF! They're home with me, safe and sound.

So.....that means I currently have...monarch, PV, GST, GF, and VF!...things are about the really get cranking here!

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Comments (4)

MissSherry
16 years ago
Congrats, congrats, Paul! I was just thinking about looking for GF roadside cats myself - since the numbers are low this year, the ones out there sure need to be protected!
I've got some VF cats too, but right now they're still hatchlings - when they get a little bigger, I'll bring them into a cage to raise, along with my GF cats. I'll probably put them in my 'miscellaneous' cage with the 2 ALs, the 9 QMs, the 1 spicebush swallowtail, and the 1 buckeye. Or I might transfer the smaller GST cats to the cage with bigger ones, since many of those have pupated, and make that cage my passionvine eating cage. Cage space is at a premium these days! :)
MissSherry
Msrpaul
Original Author
16 years ago
I was just going to ask...how may cages do you have? I just whipped my 2nd smaller one out for PV...those guys wander....
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I don't know if this would work but, there is always the 2 liter bottle of soda cut on the bottom and placed over a plastic container, like a little butter tub. You cut a small hole in the container lid and put the plant in it, with water in the container. Put some netting or screen over the top of the soda bottle and your all set. I found it in the Family Butterfly Book, there are some neat ideas in it about how to raise butterflies for cheap. Maybe if you check your library you can find this book. That's where I found it. I don't know if you checked but, Petsmart has the reptile cages for cheap. I bought the biggest one they had last summer and it was 19.95. I also got a few of the smaller fish containers for 5 or 6 dollars. They fit a lot of cats actually. Aggie Here is a link that might be useful: Rick Mikula book
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I wonder why you are more upset that your mother has rejected you than your son has. You haven't seen or heard from your oldest son in 20 years, and yet seem quite at peace with that. However you got to that place of peace with your oldest son, I think that's what you should do with your mother until you can say about her like you do your oldest, "She's my mother no matter what, and I love her even if I don't see or hear from her." And then move on with your life. It seems you have several primary relationships in your life that aren't functioning well. Have you ever tried counselling? I agree with those posters who say you should have gone to the funeral. You didn't need to bring your dog, your husband was there. And when she had surgery that would have been a good opportunity for you to try to repair the relationship. It didn't seem like an unreasonable request. After forty years of adulthood, I would hope you would have resolved some of the issues you have with her independently of her. I'm sorry you are so hurt by her that you can hardly think or breath. That's a lot of hurt. And I'm kind of puzzled by how cavalierly you've written off your son. Not enough information about what's up with him; but the thought crossed my mind that you did with your son similar to what your mom did with you; she is estranged from her daughter, and you are estranged from your son.
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susanlynne48
16 years ago
I figured out another way to recycle using my leftover winter sowing containers (2 ltr soda bottles). I had a trash bag full of the ones that were cleaned and was going to put them up til next winter, but I thought, these would do great for raising a few butterflies. So, I've been using them and they're easy to clean, easy to keep track of, and work beautifully.

Just thought I'd throw that in just in case someone else out there is looking for containers. You can only raise about 4 maximum in one (well, I do that with the swallowtails because they need more room), but I had a ton left over and have been using them until I get my big containers ready for the Monarchs.

Paul, sounds like you're having a good BF year, too! Congrats!

Susan
MissSherry
16 years ago
I've got 7 reptarian cages, Paul - 1 big, 4 medium and 2 small. I've also got a little bitty plastic thing that was meant for goldfish, but it has a vented top on it - I use it for tiny hatchlings sometimes. I've also got a hanging type cage that I don't like - it's hard to attach water picks to the sides, and you can't put a plastic leftovers container on the bottom without it turning over in the wind and/or weighing down the flimsy cage too much - I don't use this one unless I'm desperate.
I've brought in 4 GF cats so far. They're in a small reptarian cage, but 2 of them are so small I'll probably transfer them to the little "fish bowl" for additional safety. The buckeye that's in it now has grown SO much, it's ready for the big time!
MissSherry

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?what to do with this little guy?

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