MissSherry, I took a picture this week of a BST cat shedding its skin. It's a funny pic, as another cat kept intruding. I thought a good caption would be, "Do you mind, I'm changing!" When I first saw the cat, it was dark and dull. It looked unhealthy. Then I noticed that it was molting. I watched the whole process, as did that other nosy caterpillar! So possibly that dead-looking cat that you saw was getting ready to molt. I'll try to post my pics when I get a new computer--mine is about 10 years old and is starting to have problems. I lost a port so I can't connect my camera or a card reader any more. I also got a good shot of a newly hatched PV and 2 more trying to break through the egg shells. You can see their little black heads just peeping through the top of the eggs. Sandy

They are very beautiful indeed. We have the sub-species hirsuta here in California. They feed on wild growing dutchmans pipe here as well. I planted a lot of it around my pond about 3 years ago. Now I get several broods of them every year...sometimes with cats as early as April. Male chrysalids are always bright green. Females are always brown here. I am not sure if that is the case with Battus philenor in the East?? The cats are very interesting as well. Dark black with orange tubricals. They produce scent horns..(osmetria) when disturbed, but I have never been able to detect the order they produce. I find this interesting because I can readily detect scent from Western Tiger Swallowtail Cats with no problem. Birds are more sensitive to this...so I am sure they can smell it. As far as mating with other species?? I do not know. We do not have similar color species here. No Spicebush or Black Swallowtails and no Eastern Tigers...so no dark phase females. We do have Anise Swallowtials here...similar to Black Swallowtails but the Pipevine Swallowtails here don't seem interested in them, except to chase them out of the area. I have seen males chase other butterflies and each other out of there patrol territories. They are very bold and fight a lot among themselves for mating rights. Even very newly emerged males often have wing damage...I suspect from fighting with each other as soon as the wings are dry and they are on the wing. Good luck with seeing more of these next season...Chances are good that you will.

You're in for a new, wonderful experience. I became the caretaker of a Manx 2 1/2 years ago and she has been a joy. Most info on the breed says they are more like a dog than a cat and I have to agree......except she does have the 'cat attitude'. :) On the scratching issue: supply the cat with several options and place them in areas it tends to hang out. When I first got my cat (abandoned kitten) she hung out below the TV so I placed toys and cardboard scratchers there along with one under the dining table. The tall scratching post has moved around the house but it's now in an area she strolls by every morning. I would also recommend you buy a tunnel.......a great 'toy' for cats. There will be the kitten stage, no way around it, where it's going to be everywhere and testing everything. Keep a spray bottle handy and be ready to give a squirt when the kitten is somewhere it shouldn't be. But, give a warning first. I quickly realized my kitten would respond to 'no' of 'off' so I rarely needed to use the squirt bottle. At one point I had to purchase Static Pads to keep her away from the LR furniture. I used them for about 3-4 months and haven't needed them since. She'll only scratch at a chair now in order to get my attention (if I'm on the computer) if she wants to be fed. On cat litter: I've tried several brands and always return to unscented Worlds Best. Everclean has too much of an odor (even the unscented) and odors can often cause cats not to use the litter box. You'll find that you'll go thru different sizes of litterboxes. My kitten was so small she started off with a shallow pan and she now uses one of the largest boxes sold at Petco!

Beautiful cat!. Love the colors. Names are not required to be in the gallery.