Some of us get "closer" to our caterpillars because we know they'll go through a wondrous process and hopefully survive to become butterflies.

Some of us aren't as "personal" with our caterpillars because we view it as an ecological imperative, scientific endeavor or just have so darn many of them it's hard to get personal with them individually even when one is sad if a cat doesn't make it for whatever reason.

Some feel the same about cats whether they're moths of more common varieties versus the unusual beauties like Luna Moths as they do about their butterfly cats.

Some of us are a little or all of the above.

I climbed a ladder yesterday with an extension pruner to cut down a Birch branch that had a sizable caterpillar "tent" on it.

I didn't hesitate for a second on ecological/scientific grounds to take down the entire tent and destroy the caterpillars. Foliage devastation in these parts means more loss of some native species as far as I'm concerned.

"Worms" mean different things to different people.

The fat 8 inch earth worms I disturbed the other day when cleaning out all the leaf/branch litter from the butterfly garden were a sight for sore eyes and I would've done a happy dance had I not already fallen right on my hip in one of many forays over the fence to dump refuse...LOL.

On the other hand, the green inch worms I find eating foliage and flowers are gone if I get my hands on them. I assume they're a little "thank you" I get from all the Cabbage Whites who've found the butterfly attracting plants I put in irresistable.

I now do things I never did and have a different perspective about what needs to be done to make a good place to host butterflies, bees and birds including hummers if I can.

This forum was what convinced me to "cross the line" from just hosting the beauties to saving them from the elements and predators by rearing them either outside in enclosures or inside in containers for transfer outside when chrysalides form.

Sometimes I can't believe I'm doing this but what started as a personal need to attract butterflies turned into a mutually nurturing experience.

I see some pictures of cats besides the BST and Monarch and think UGH as in "a face only a mother could love" but guess I'd get used to the ugly mugs if they presented themselves for a little help in fostering the species. If I ever found a Luna Moth cat I'd jump for joy. The Dagger Moth cat I found escaped while I was looking for an ID on the internet but I honestly doubt I would have "raised" that one.

AM slug patrol never used to be on my schedule either so butterfly caterpillars are a giant step up in the world of what one might consider "gross"...LOL.

Some people who hear of what I'm doing get excited and want to know more. Some are happy only after the butterflies eclose. Some just think I've gone too far afield from butterfly gardening to helping them develop with food and shelter.

Whatever.

Why rain on someone else's parade if it's not hurting anyone?

Family and friends don't always display that sensitivity as if we all didn't know that already...LOL...and some of us are more sensitive than others to that perceived insensitivity.

You "get it" for your own reasons and this Butterfly Forum is a blessing for others who "get it" as well.

Last Sunday when we went out to eat with friends, conversation turned to my pictures from my trips to Laos to see my DD, DSIL, and DGS. My husband piped in with an aside about all the BF photos I took. (He doesn't always get it either.) Then it came out that I raised BFs.

Three people followed us to our house so they could see my little caterpillar friends. These people were amazed at all the bugs I'm raising and the butterfly garden I built stone by stone and plant by plant. They wondered why I hadn't told them about my hobby before. I just said that I don't usually share the info.

I learned a long time ago that some people think it's stupid. I've also met many people who think it's interesting. And there are those like last Sunday, who find it absolutely fascinating. One of the three actually volunteered to cat sit if I needed help.

But, in my everyday life, I don't talk much about it. For one thing, I've had a lot of people crack jokes about my hobby over the past 25 years. "Butterflymom" was a joke nickname given to me by my son's friends. I think my son, as a teenager, was always a little embarrassed by all the caterpillars that we had on the kitchen island. None of this has deterred me though.

So, as you said, "Some people just don't get it!"

Being a newbie to this forum I just want ya'll to know that "I get it!" Although I've never raised any cats and don't really know how to go about it, I'd love to learn and be able to do so. That's one of the reasons I've been hanging out here and reading all the posts you folks write about raising your cats. I hope someday to be able to gather some butterfly eggs and raise some myself. I'm planning to plant more of the host plants next spring and hopefully attract some egg laying "mama" butterflys. In the meantime I'm going to continue reading this forum and other sources of info also, so I'll be ready when and if I get eggs.
Thanks to all of you for posting your experiences, good and bad, so that us newbies can learn from your trials and errors.
Jan

My dad calls all caterpillars "bugs." He doesn't understand why I've got "cages for bugs" and buy plants "for bugs" and get excited about "bugs" maturing. I've got vines covered in "bugs" that I like to show people.

So yes, I understand about some people not getting it. But there are a lot of I-don't-get-it quirks, even amongst fellow gardeners! Some get obsessed with "dirt," some with growing food it would be easier to buy, some with preserving native plants, some with lawns, some with gardening for critters! To each their own.

WELL, it's okay...I had a massage today and my PT likes the SMELL of dirt. When she was pregnant she had said to me, "I feel like I want to eat dirt! Is that weird?" I said, "No, why don't you go and get some organic stuff?" :) She smiled. Today we were talking about it as one of her daughters was outside watering the Milkweed (I'd given her seeds). Her daughter LOVES to water the garden and play in the dirt. Nothing wrong with that! Interestingly enough, this daughter and the baby both LOVE to eat dirt...hmmm...maybe because mom liked eating dirt??!!

What's the big deal anyway? Caterpillars? Dogs? Cats? Birds? Snakes? Everyone has some kind of a fave pet or hobby or whatever, right?

People love butterflies--they're on their clothes, on their paintings, in their decor, etc. But many people don't really understand the life cycle or the caterpillars, etc. It's a little bit of a mission for me that people understand how cool caterpillars are and what tough lives they lead. I understand they're not for everyone, but I think by sharing my little hobby, I wake up some people.

One thing I've come to learn is even if someone verbalizes a negative reaction to some kind of new information for that person, they often continue to think about it and mull over it and some change their mind. It's happened to me. So, we can't give up--keep talking up the caterpillars. Maybe give her a chrysalis if she's in your area and let her experience the e-closion and the release. Then she may get interested in how the chrysalis came to be.

Here's another angle: How about all of the companies that make money off of butterflies but do nothing for them in return--like reserve habitats etc. So many of my daughter's clothes have butterflies on them (a lot were gifts from friends who appreciate my interest), but how many people these clothes for their kids and then wouldn't think twice about spraying their dill or parsley or tomato plants to kingdom-come?

Good points, BG.

A point you have to realize is that most people in general could care less about Lepidoptera. They may notice one that flies by or visits a flower, even stop what they are doing to watch it, but once its gone so is their interest in it. So beyond a reasonable effort to educate those who are negative about Lepidoptera, you are probably just wasting your time.

During those years when I did the public seminars on Lepidoptera, at schools, libraries, natural history museums, zoos, etc I put on quite a show and tell and slide show, so I usually held public interest well during those seminars. Some came just for my seminars and paid attention because it was entertaining and interesting to them  they liked the stories I told about the bugs and the places they lived naturally, the slides and living displays I always brought along. But some attended just because they happened to be in the right place at the time and it was something to do. Some were moved enough to go visit the living sanctuary we had established at our local zoo, some even enough to come to a local lep society meeting to learn more. A rare few even joined the society at least for a while. But most went back to their busy lives that didnÂt have time for Lepidoptera, some a day, week or month later, some 5 minutes after the seminars. So my purpose of doing the seminars at all was to reach the children, maybe plant a seed that one day would grow into another person who made Lepidoptera and their conservation a regular part of their lives. The children are and will be the future of all things natural on earth.

The active amateurs here on this forum right up to the most dedicated professional Lepidopterists are a very small and select few in the larger scheme of things. We are a fraternity, but a very small one. So when we fail to reach other people about Lepidoptera (or anything else), we need to realize that it is not our failure but rather just a product of the self centered lives that make up the majority of todayÂs society.

It's their loss!
Sherry

You're right Sherry, in OUR way of thinking. But opinions vary.

A beer guzzling, snack munching couch potato whose only purpose in life is lay around all day watching game shows on TV could/would say the same thing to those of us who don't engage in their "hobby". ;-)

Larry

Reading this post brings to mind the Mind/Matter theory....

Those that Matter don't Mind and those that Mind don't Matter.

All I can do is go along enjoying the things I enjoy and not worrying about those who find fault. Just live and let live.....for the most part, anyway. I'm not a pacifist by any stretch, but neither do I run around sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. I've got better things to do.

To those that "don't get it", well, all I can say is... to each his own.... This thread could open up a whole list of things I "just don't get", but we won't go there.

I sorta advertise what I'm up to since I have a bunch of rearing bags hanging on the trees in my front yard. Met many of my neighbors because of the bags. They would see me out tending to the bags, stop and ask me what I was up to. To me, it is just another form of networking. The neighborhood knows I'm into bugs and good things have come from it (even though I'm sure the lady across the street is trying to convince the township to ban my rearing bags). I now have a neighbor kid raising cecropias. Another neighbor brought me a luna moth they found on their house (male - darn!). Another showed me a pic of a tulip tree moth that he found on the side of his house (wish he would have brought the moth). Yesterday, another neighbor let my son get some tomato leaves for the tobacco hornworm my son found (I didn't know tobacco hornworms ate tomato leaves until I looked the cat up).

KC

AMEN!!!
Aufin-I like that mind over matter thing-that's good!
I often have to explain why I'm bottom end up most of the time when it's monarch egg/cat time!!LOL!!
Or why I grow tomato plants when I don't like tomatoes(for the "worms",man!)
The best I can say is "that's just who I am!"
I also like bats-when I say this, most people do that shudder thing, but look at this face!!
{{gwi:437891}}
eastern red bat with hurt wing
-B

OH Brandy, you would love our house then! Last year we counted about 300 bats coming out of our attic. I don't know what it's up to this year! LOL Our neighbor thinks it's the neatest thing watching them come back in the morning. He gets to see them before he goes to work. It is really a site. I tried to block up the attic last fall but apparently spending days and days up there wasn't good enough. I give up because I can't pay someone thousands of dollars to fix it so they can't get in. I put up bat houses but they turn their noses up at them and would rather live with us. :-O They are kinda cute in an ugly way. ;-) I want them around to eat the mosquitoes. Those things eat LOTS of insects every night!
Cathy

Yes, I WOULD love your house!! After taking care of this little girl for two weeks I was a bit sad when she started to fly(shame on me-but I wanted her to stay forever) I want to help more, I looked into becoming a wildlife rehabber but the state of michigan does not allow the rehabilitation of bats or skunks. I know people do it though, it's just against the law!!LOL!!
-B

Your little bat picture is really cute. It reminds me of Stella Luna.

I don't know if bats are carriers of rabies in your state, but that is a real problem here in Oklahoma. Bats are protected and bat houses are provided in many of the state parks. We have populations of bats in caves that are off limits to spelunkers. However, catching or approaching an injured bat is considered a dangerous thing to do.

It's the same for skunks--they are also carriers of rabies. I remember my sister getting rabies' shots when she was 3 years old. It was a horribly experience which made a lasting impression on an 8 year old.

Sandy