Penny, That particular mama could've just been at the end of her egg laying term. :P If I recall, I was getting you some toward the end there in that particular 'batch' which could explain the problem with the lack of viability. *sigh* Too bad since I have so many caterpillars right now from the previous group! I have been collecting more, again, in the past few days. There were some new mamas out there today. I swear, it is interesting because I haven't released any in a month. Just goes to show that if you have Milkweed, eventually the Monarchs will find it! I do have loads of the stuff...two huge plots in the backyard and one plot in the front. I also have it in sporadic places. I listed 100 plants on the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project but I know I have more than that. I just refuse to go and actually count the darned plants! I figure counting eggs and caterpillars is plenty. My room is a fun place to be. You get a bit of an idea from the three pictures. It's hard to tell what it really looks like (I don't want to show much of the kids' faces in the pics for security purposes) but the sea turtles that are hanging from the lights, for example, actually have the children's faces on them for the heads. They are so fun to look at. Way in the back in the 2nd picture is my 'library' area and I have this pop-up tent/house thing I got at Target. I have a picnic table and a pond rug back there as well. The wall is covered to resemble a rock wall (this awesome rock-patterned paper)with the grass and the sky (cloud-patterned paper). The flowers' heads are the children's faces. The butterflies fluttering above the flowers are the children's bodies. The tree to the side? The leaves are the children's faces as well. :) I take a lot of pictures and use them in the room which makes the room so much more cheerful and alive. Mary, I am sure we can talk Kindergarten to no end. I've been back in the classroom for going on six years now although I've been in education for 23. I chose K because I wanted to lay that important foundation in education. When I considered moving up to teach math at the new high school my husband said, "Sherry, I think you should stick with Kindergarten for a few more years." That was two years ago. :) Each year, the parents come up and ask, "Are you leaving? Please stay because I have a daughter/son coming to Kindergarten next year." K is a fun group but most definitely EXHAUSTING! (maybe because I am so type A)

Cghpnd, I'm so sorry you're having bad luck. Did they seem OK when you found them? Are there more cats still living? If so, make sure you separate the eggs from them. You probably want to have multiple containers that you can move the cats and eggs to as they grow, and clean the alternate containers with bleach each time you switch them out. There are nasty diseases that Monarchs can carry and pass on to one another. Some people who raise Monarchs insist that each cat should be kept in an individual container. It certainly makes sense to keep small groups separate, so if one container is infected, at least the other groups have a chance to avoid infection. And wash hands and milkweed carefully. Again, some people soak their milkweed in a weak bleach solution and then rinse it thoroughly before giving it to their cats, in case sick cats have crawled over the leaves before they collected them. Sorry to be a bit of a wet blanket, but there is obviously something seriously wrong, and I want the rest of your experience to be positive. Martha

This male rarely leaves my small back yard. Most of the time he can be seen sitting in the vitex tree right beside the BB house. He is so funny, though. For some reason, as smart as he seems to be, he hasn't figured out that I am putting the meal worms out especially for them. He seems to be trying to hurry and get them all fed to the female and eaten himself before anyone catches him. He frantically grabs as many as he can at a time and stuffs them into the female's mouth, many times dropping a couple on the ground. If I could write in the "bluebird" language, I'd leave him a note and tell him just to enjoy them and eat a leisurely meal. He knows he's dropping some, as he always goes down to the ground afterward to locate them before they can get away. I've noticed all the BBs eating at my sunflower chips feeder this season, too. It's so interesting to see several different birds eating at that feeder at the same time. I like harmony.

Nicole...Purple Martins use only dry nesting materials; around here they like pine needles, wheat straw, twigs, old mulch, etc. They usually add green leaves right before egg laying begins. Mine used a lot of maple seed "helicopters" this spring. Some PMs add layers of leaves right before egg laying begins. Some add one lone leaf and call it good. They don't use anything soft. I fill the gourds with fresh cedar shavings in the spring; I pack them tightly and fill the gourds to about 1/2 inch below the entry hole. Some of the birds don't bother to add anything else. They spend nest-building time eating and resting and getting strong. When the chicks are 10-days-old, and again when they're 18-days-old, I remove them from the nest, take out all the old nesting material, add Sevin dust if I see any mites, add new cedar shavings, and replace the babies. The adults buzz around and watch the procedure, but they're very use to my nearly daily "help." It keeps the chicks clean, parasite free, reduces bacterias and molds, and helps ensure they all fledge strong and healthy. No. Most birds "in the wild" don't get this treatment, but with the martins it's all a numbers game. I try to ensure each egg laid has the optimum conditions to hatch (didn't do so good this year) and each hatchling lives to fledge. I love tending my little flock. I can do a complete nest change/clean out in about two minutes so it's really not a bother. Janie...LOL. Of course he's a guy. No lady would be caught in such an over-indulgence stupor! LOL (All their "parts" are internal, boys and girls,)