Heeheeheeheehee! Haven't had to resort to begging for leaves yet, Sandy! However, I did have to call all over OKC last year to find tropical milkweed (at Satterlee's) for my Monarchs. But, that's nothing spectacular.

I kissed a Eumorpha Achemon moth last year! I mean, they have the cutest little furry faces, I just couldn't resist!
Didn't turn into a prince, though.

Susan

hi
what a great post.
I have only been raising BFs for a year and a half so I have not had too much time to do crazy things yet (unless you ask my husband.)
but today I went through my lawn and checked every little honeyvine in the grass (over 30 plants)to check for monarch cats and eggs before mowing. I ended up finding 9 eggs and 7 tiny cats. my neighbors probubly thought I had cracked a little.
anyway the eggs and cats are saftly tucked away in two small cages. I realy hate mowing, I can look for the monarchs but what else could I be mowing down?
Is that wierd?
michelle

LOL That's so awesome that you did that (and even cooler that they would donate leaves to the noble cause!).

Craziest thing I've ever done for butterflies... I had a very dramatic kidnapping incident (link below to the humor post I made about it in another GW forum).

Here is a link that might be useful: adventures with kidnapping (caterpillars, that is)!

laurellily, that has got to be the funniest post I've ever read!!! ROFLAO!!!!

I've never kidnapped a cat before, I do check the 100+ tiny milkweeds in the yard for eggs/cats each time I mow, that's where the majority of mine come from. I don't know, in my opinion, the fact that I keep running back to the nursery for more parsely (cause mine keeps dying) for my 3 lil bst, seems a little nuts. (6 plants in less than a week, they only hatched a few days ago!)

well, my kids say I do weird butterfly things all the time but I guess my top two are that I "Brake" for them while driving, that is if I can without getting rear-ended cause it saddens me if i accidently hit one and the 2nd thing is---last fall when our local Lowe's got their milkweed, all the plants were just covered with cats---so I asked the sales clerk if he minded if I picked them off and of course he thought I was a little weird but he certainly didn't care. So i bought one milkweed to transfer them on to and left Lowe's with a plant full of cats. What can I say ----- Just doing my part to save the butters!!!!! But I can see that all of us on this site are a little crazed !!!!! Butterflutter

I've only just been doing this since last year. I had 27 milkweed plants outside last year and now have close to 200. Those are the ones outside, and I probably have that many sitting on our porch and in the kitchen. If going around checking almost 200 milkweed plants for eggs and cats isn't a little bit on the insane side, I don't know what is. I wouldn't doubt if our neighbors think I'm some crackhead. :-D Btw, I loved reading everyone's post here on what they've done for their cats...very humorous! :)
Cathy

Fantastic story Laurel. Too funny. I am going to tell my kids this tale when they give me grief about the hoops I jump through for some of my critters! Loved it!
Brenda

Laurel,

Your should go into comedy writing. Most of the comics would benefit from your inspired writing. I hope Konkreteblond and tdogmom find this wonderful thread. They have stories that can compete with the stories posted .

mike

Last year my brother and I were given a female Royal Walnut Moth, the proud mama of nearly 100 eggs the following morning. So, since we'd never raised this species of caterpillar before (Hickory Horned Devils) we decided to adopt all the babies. Oh boy, a new adventure! Well, as you can guess, we quickly learned just how much these hog-heads eat.......and I mean leaves by the truck load! We had to beg every neighbor in a 10 mile radius to allow us to "prune" their black walnut trees. We literally were carrying home Hefty garbage bags full of leaves....and these buggers eat for 8-10 weeks! I'm absolutely positive the neighbors think we are a couple of nuts!

~Judy
www.ButterflyNature.com

I can't imagine trying to raise that many HHDs, Judy! I've only got one now - the other one shriveled up and died - and this one cat is about to eat half a pecan tree! I can't believe the sheer quantity of leaves it's eating, the size of the cat, or the size of the poops!
I've done so many weird things for cats, I can't pick out just one - just last night I went out in the rain to get some more pecan leaves for the HHD and some ptelea and aristolochia for other, lesser eating cats. But instead of weird, I prefer to call myself eccentric! :)
MissSherry

I am so sure that the neighbors around the park where I pick milkweed think something is wrong with me-I can almost feel the strange stare when I look at them outside. It's almost like they all stop and stare when i'm there..why is that nutty lady looking at weeds? What is she doing? She is bring them home with her? I can just hear it now..

When I go to the nursery I always check the main plants for eggs or cats..I have yet to find any but I would more than likely buy the plant.

Oh, wait I have one-I'm about to drive to the next state for Eastern Comma's, does that count? I located someone who has them but she doesn't mail them out so I can go and get them though..I'm thinking about it..

Aggie

I dug up a honeyvine milkweed with 11 monarch eggs on it and a Passiflora lutea from a neighbor's yard before they mowed it. They didn't know I did it though... I covered my tracks with loose sod... HEHEHEHE

LOL; I haven't done anything weird yet, I think, although I was outside picking off some milkweed leaves and putting them into a bowl of water. My neighbors were sitting out on the porch. I basically ignored them, but they're always busting my chops about me being out there so much, and I can't imagine what they were thinking. I'm actually quite surprised they didn't harass me about it ;) I'm sure they'll mention it eventually!
Regarding Sandy's original post about the tulip poplar; I could just smack myself silly, ripping up all of those tulip poplar saplings! Next one I find will get transplanted to the far end of my yard. I don't care what DH says! He still makes snide remarks about the sorbus tree I transplanted, that reseeded from my neighbor. I couldn't resist, since the robins, cardinals & mockingbirds enjoy it so much!

Weird? I don't think any of this is weird. ;P

Eccentric, maybe...but definitely NOT weird.

I can't think of anything I do as being weird.

I do know that I may do things that may appear odd. But, not weird, oh no! Nowadays, if I visit someone's home and they have a garden, I can ALWAYS be found checking out what plants they have. In fact, recently I was at a gorgeous estate up along the Central Coast, and was asked to come back and STAY at the house (hubby could go windsurf during the day and I could hang out in the garden, drink the local wine, and give Chelsea free rein to have a blast with their dogs) if I would simply point out and tell the owners what each of the plants were and which ones would be considered good butterfly plants! :) I had marveled at the Buddleia, various citrus (you KNOW I was staring up at those leaves! hoping to spot an egg or caterpillar), and other host and nectar plants...I did point out the snail trails and recommended Sluggo since they had dogs and children. :)

Weird? Naaaaah...nothing is weird.

I have been known to carry caterpillars back and forth from school to home and vise versa over holidays just so I knew they had enough food. Same thing for chrysalis that I think might open over the weekend. I once lost a Monarch caterpillar in my car and had to search under the seats for it. Finally found it crawling on my headrest the next morning!

I have held a wispy piece of Pipevine still so that a female Pipevine Swallowtail could lay her eggs. The poor thing was so tattered and worn, she couldn't stabilize herself close enough to the stem. She was insistent to use that particular piece so I got the ladder, climbed up and leaned against the fence to hold it steady. Trying to stay still so I wouldn't spook her and hoping to not get stung by the bees that were nectaring on the Porterweed I was leaning up against made it seem like forever. She finally laid a few eggs. I later collected them and raised her babies.

Well my neighbor thought I was wierd...
This happened a few years ago when my Plumbago was much smaller and part of my fence was not covered. I was out sanpping pictures of caterpillars, etc and the people behind me were having their first BBQ since moving in. I guess they were wondering who this strange lady was cause the woman came over to the fence and asked me why I was taking pictures of her family and guests. They kinda thougt I was a camera carrying Peeping Tom!

Your stories have been the greatest. One thing I can say about joining this forum, is that I know I can always find something to make me laugh and bring joy to my day. Yes, Miss Sherry, we are not crazy, just eccentric. But, I don't want to be known as an eccentric old woman! LOL I am sure I am getting that reputation, though. I've lived too many years not to.

When a neighbor stops you when you are out walking the dog and wants you to look at her plants and ID them because "your BFs" are visiting her yard, you've been uncovered! She knows they're your BFs because your backyard neighbor told her that they were.

When the kids see you, they want to know if you have any new "worms" that they can see. And they bring you worms that they find, you know your reputation proceeds you.

I also know that the longer you do this, you do become more involved (is that better than crazier?). I have kidnapped cats, and searched my car for them afterwards when they tried to run for it. Some I never found. I've had BFs in the kitchen that escaped from the containers and found a nice place to pupate behind the fridge. I've gotten poison ivy searching for leaves for my cats. I driven miles searching for A Tomentosa vines for my PVs, just to discover that it grows wild outside my neighborhood. I've gotten all itchy from mosquito bites and chiggers, just traipsing through a meadow to see what BFs are there. And, I know that I'm not the only one! You all have done the same.

But the greatest thing I've gotten from all this is joy. It's hard work to maintain the garden and raise the cats, but the joy is there when you see a BF fly off that you had a part in raising! Sorry, I know I'm also a sentimental old fool (SOF) as well as an EOW.

OK Sandy

Well, I wouldn't consider stopping my bike suddenly to look at the sulfurs around the clover or alfalfa weird... opportunistic maybe, but not weird. Unfortunately, though, I didn't find any eggs. Oh well.
I guess you could call putting wet dirt in with my butterflies for puddling weird, but it makes sense if you're trying to breed them...
I wouldn't consider postponing breakfast to feed cats weird; it's normal for me. However, I haven't had to beg for food. I also haven't ever kidnapped any cats, though I guess I did carry back into our yard an adult BST that I released (it flew out of the yard to the neighbors flowers). Officially, it could have flown away; unofficially, I probably would have chased it down again if it had.
-Jmcat

Jmcat - welcome to the forum BTW! Funny stories, heehee haha!

I don't know, SandyOK, there is a certain je nais se quois to being called an "eccentric" IMHO. Rather that than some of the other things they call us old ladies - like the old bag lady, or the strange one who pauses and looks at plant leaves as though she's devouring them, or the Nutty Ole Bat, or the Witchy Woman (shades of Eagles), or Crotchety ole lady, stuff like that.

I talk to my cats, too - do you? People talk to their plants, so why not? To me, they are "pretty boy (or girl)" depending on my mood (if I'm in a hurry, it's Pretty Boy; if I have a lot of patience, it's Pretty Girl); or Elmo the Slowmo (when I'm trying to get them to move to fresh food); or Chester if they're gimping along and not in a hurry to move to fresh food; or, Paris, if they're just hanging around doing nothing (they do get paid in host plants to make an appearance in the garden); you get the idea. Sometimes, it is like they have their own personalities.

Susan

Susan,

What a hoot! I haven't given them names yet, but I can see how you came up with yours. Thanks for the chuckle.

OKSandy

For me it is not so much what I've done FOR them but the weird situations I've gotten IN because OF them!

Susan, Whew, thank goodness I'm not the only one who names caterpillars! Actually, last year my daughter and I had all 70 of ours names and put their name on the container each one was in. :-O Yeah, um...eccentric...I'll go with that one. :)
Cathy

Susan,

I love your names for your caterpillars. Interesting you mentioned Witchy Woman; I just rewatched the Eagles Farewell 1 Tour from Melbourne Australia. They sound better than ever to me. I'd never heard There's a Hole in the World before Farewell 1.

mike

I am most fond of the older Eagles tunes, Mike. Maybe I should call my hamper the Hotel California, but most time they do at least "check out". Heehee. Farewell tour is a sign we've all gotten older - what a downer. Especially when watching American Idol and they sing some of the songs from the 60s and 70s, and there's Simon telling them that they are singing songs that are too old for them. Ha! What does he know?

Cathy - you mean you labeled your containers with their names? Now, I thought I was getting bad.......to the bone.

Geez, think of all the rock band names you could come up with. I could call my pink budworm, Pink Floyd.

Susan

We don't name the caterpillars, but my husband has taken it upon himself to name the monarchs after they eclose. Here's a sample of last year's names: Bubba, Sweet pea, Ralphie, Randy, PeeWee, Cooter, Scooter, Fatty, and Bucky. He'll just look at the butterfly (for the first time) and say "Yep, that's Sparky alright. How was your nap, Sparky? Good to see you again."

He's crazy.

I, however, am perfectly "normal". ;)

Sandy

Well, I did something yesterday that could be considered uh... "eccentric". I mean, what's wrong with postponing breakfast for an hour and a half to take pics of my 2nd instar BST cats??? It seems some people think that to be strange... Oh, well. Maybe through our good examples these [odd] people can be brought to see the light...

p.s: I am quickly deciding that the phrase "like herding cats" should (and does) describe multiple situations. It's amazing how hard it is to get 5 BST cats on the first inch of a finger to photograph. After yesterday's experience, I decided to compose a song to the tune of "We Three Kings". It goes something like:
We 5 caterpillars of doom/ We'll annoy you greatly/ When you try to take our picture we can move very fast/ chorus:/O-oh, we will move far away/ From where you want us to be/ We'll come and annoy you greatly/ We 5 cats of doom!
-Jmcat

laurellily's post was hysterical!

In the summer I visit the nurseries that carry milkweed just for the purpose of checking leaves for eggs, indeed I have found some. I carefully look around to see if anyone is watching and I pinch off the leaf and give it to my mom to hold. I figure no one will hassle a woman with gray hair.

Edna

This is a WONDERFUL thread. I'm enjoying rereading it as much as i ednjoyed reading it. I noticed tdogmom found the thread. Hope she shares more of her butterfly/cat stories and where is konkreteblond?

mike

Oh, Mike...I'm certain everyone is so familiar with MY antics that nothing surprises them anymore!