Tamgirl, I'm not sure what you mean by a hatchery, but, no, I don't have one. I live on 5 1/2 acres of mostly wooded property, so there are host plants all over the place. My passionvines are mostly growing on the hurricane fence that surrounds my garden and on the wood picket fence around the front "yard". I've released 45-50 gulf frits this month, so I had decided to leave the cats on the vines. After seeing the wren pecking at the chrysalis, I've changed my mine, and now I'm bringing in eggs and hatchlings to raise in the cages on my covered porch like I did those I've already released. I guess you could call my cages my hatcheries. This is the first time I've seen a bird showing interest in eating a caterpillar or chrysalis, although I'm aware that the cuckoos come here to eat tent caterpillars, I just don't see them doing it. Out here in the woods, there are SO many insects - people who live in town can't imagine how thick they are here - and birds have all them to eat plus sunflower seeds, and the hummers feed at my hummingbird feeders. I guess that's why they don't need to bother caterpillars much, but maybe the wrens saw easy pickings and decided to partake! Sherry

Wertach, I mailed you thru the gardenweb. Hope it got thru to you. This morning I went out and picked a bucket of Harry's HTD speckle butterbeans. Had to use a ladder to pick some of them out of my orange tree. Had planted them at the edge of the tree so they wouldn't get full sun during the hot weather. They did not make during the hot weather but as soon as it cooled off they were very prolific. In the picture the hulls had four beans. Harry I don't remember what beans you crossed to develop this HTD bean but it is a winner. We were hoping it would make during the hot summer here in Florida but it wouldn't. I have a couple hundred seed I will mail out in 25 packs to anyone that wants to give them a try. E-mail me your mailing address and I will send them to you. Harry's HTD ButterBean Luther

I'm sharing this to lift the spirits of those who have tried to help and been met with sad results. I hope this gives hope to anyone who wants to try and save an abandon baby. Rescue centers try to tell that you have to be licensed/certified (and that you can't transport them over state lines...like the bird knows) and that they can't help or give advice and you're breaking the law. We are animal people with a small farm and have raised baby chics from eggs, so I felt confident we could do this and be successful. Not to mention I couldn't let a living thing perish under our very eyes. I had a nest with 2 eggs in a helmet in my garage and an active Mom who trusted us being in and out quite frequently and looking in on her. After hatching (7 days a go) only one hatchling remained and no sign of egg shells or Mom. After almost 24 hours of no Mom, we decided to intervene by feeding and keeping warm. We named her Stimpy the Wren. The hatchling can live for 24+ hours as it absorbs what is left of the egg inside (we learned this hatching chickens). To feed the bird, we soaked and mashed cat food (12 pieces) in sugar water (1tbsp water with a sprinkle os sugar), then added a pinch of mashed egg yolk to the mix. We take a pea size amount and warm it up (for 6-7 seconds in the micro). I made several tsp size batches and froze them for the days ahead. She eats a pea size amount every hour via tweezer from 8am- 10pm. She was eating 1 tsp over 2 days, now she eats 1 tsp a day. A week later her eyes are opening and today she made her first audible peep today to eat! Her feathers are coming in rather quickly, she has doubled in size, eyes are opening and she tries to hop around in circles in her nest. She poops once for every 2-3 feedings or so and we remove it with q-tips to keep her and the nest clean and free of bacteria. We are being careful not to imprint on her and vice versa as we want to return her to the wild. Things we are being mindful of: we don't handle her; she stays in her nest in a box on a heating pad with a small dish of water to create some humidity (**not for drinking, they cannot drink or be given water this young or they will drown...her water comes from the food we've prepared, water can be offered in a shallow dish once they are fledglings and able to dip their own beaks**); it is quiet and dark with little to no voices and we stopped parking in the garage on day one; it remains quiet and there is nothing loud to startle her; we keep all of our dogs/cats out of the space. We will have to give her a bigger area (store bought bird cage from what I've read) so she can begin to hop and flap about and incorporate bugs into her diet. Below is a useful website if anyone encounters an orphaned hatchling/nestling or needs more information: http://www.2ndchance.info/insecteater.htm. FYI: a fledgling is the last phase of growth and by then the bird is well on its way to flying and independence, best to let nature take its course at this point unless it is injured. I am hopeful that all I have read and tried thus far will aid this little one into a happy bird life and I hope to have been helpful to other readers, this process is trial by fire just like having a newborn baby!

I thought I read somewhere that Prince Charles wanted to slim down the monarchy much like the Swedish court did (Carl Gustaf removed 5 of his grandchildren from the royal house and rescinded their royal titles last year). Though I doubt he wanted Harry to be on that list, maybe it's not a bad thing. It has to be tough when your assigned life's work is to be "the spare" to the the heir. I imagine that the racist crap Meghan has had to put up with since day one (not from the royal family, but in print and social media) coupled with the constant hounding by the press has just proven to be too much. Considering what happened to Diana, just the press alone has to be pretty triggering for Harry. I'm sure H & M hope this move will enable them to pick and choose when to enter the fray and allow them to retreat to safety when they want to, rather than being in the thick of it constantly, though that might not be the case. There are paparazzi everywhere, after all, and they'll find them in Canada or California. In any event, it's odd and unfortunate they didn't do this through the proper channels. But given QEII's incredible dedication to duty, as someone mentioned above, she may not have been inclined to agree to any of this. Perhaps their announcement was made to force the palace's hand? In any event, I doubt Prince Charles will cut them off, that would not play well in the press. As for William and Catherine, they seem to have adapted well. They dole out just enough of their private life, kid photos, etc., to keep the press happy, and they also have almost never put a foot wrong which makes them kind of boring so they aren't hounded in the same way. I really wish H & M well, I hope they can work all this out without any permanent rifts in the family.