Use something like photobucket. Upload your pics there & then use the html code (not the img code) under the pic (big long bunch of gobbledygook)copy/paste here in reply.

Aggie, if you can, leave the stem of the wilted leaf intact, but cut out all of the leaf except immediately around the egg with a skinny sliver of leaf left to connect the part with the egg on it to the stem. Then put the leaf in water, preferably a water pick or something that seals off the water so that the hatchling won't crawl in it and drown. Make the opening in the water pick big enough that you can put in another, fresh, healthy sassafras leaf right next to it, so that the hatchling can crawl onto it to feed. Once the hatchling is on the fresh leaf, you can remove the old dried up leaf, and the caterpillar can eat the fresh one plus more as needed. MissSherry

Betty, The problem with the cats eating each other is mainly when there are later instar cats with the newly hatched. They are so much bigger and can move faster, the new babies can't get out of the way fast enough. So as long as they are all about the same size, you can "house" several cats together, provided there is enough room for them to pupate without being on top of each other. I purchased some small vases from Walmart and use those to keep the food fresh for the cats. The necks are rather small and keep the drownings down to a minimum, although some cats do occasionally go exploring and end up in the water. Enjoy your new hobby (aka obsession) and don't beat yourself up over the ones that don't make it to adulthood. It happens. Sometimes we don't know why, they just don't. Just the fact that you are providing them with food and a safe house free of parasites and would be assassins is a big help to them. I read somewhere that the survival rate is somewhere around 15% for butterflies in the "wild". In my experience, I have had about 85-90% survival, so I guess I am doing something right. About a week ago, I brought in some monarch eggs and never saw the cats emerge. So I left the leaves alone (they were in a cage with BST chrysalids) and yesterday, suddenly there were 3 cats on those dead, dried up leaves! (Boy were they happy when I supplied them with fresh food!)So, just because you don't see them right away doesn't always mean they didn't survive! Mechelle

Thank-you, Writersblock!! You inspired me. I felt like such a wuss with my eek, even though you were kind enough to agree with me, especially given the soapstone, that I went on Amazon and got a flint spark torch igniter and a pair of suede welding gauntlets (sized women's small and which are almost small enough to be a good fit--definitely small enough to safely work in). They're also a most wonderful deep cobalt blue and just the color is enough to make one happy. I'm still not ahem fired up enough to fill up the torch and flame it for giggles, but I think if I really wanted to use it, I would charge forward, gear up and get it done. People handle these things all the time with their bare hands, and I'm pretty sure there's a trigger igniter built into the torch, but I feel much more secure now. Thank-you!