So caterpillars that eventually turn into butterfies are GOOD? I am so mystified by that philosophy....not that I disagree entirely. Some of the most beautiful insects in the world are moths, by the way, not butterflies. And not all butterflies are pretty. Most of the adults act as accidental pollinators, visiting an assortment of flowers day (butterflies) and night (moths) . The larvae (caterpillars) of both categories have one job and they all work very hard at it....they EAT! If the caterpillar of the most splendid butterfly on the planet was devouring my one and only veggie plant, I'd have to turn him into bird food. :-) I remove caterpillars from my food plants but do nothing to control them elsewhere. As a matter of fact, I grow seedling citrus expressly for the Giant Swallowtail. Boy, do they ever look awful by the time the caterpillars get done with them! Your little cat is an ordinary cabbage looper, fairly common on basil. It turns into an ordinary little moth. It's up to you about where to draw the line on caterpillar tolerance. Personally....I'm fond of my basil.

Hi everyone ! Great thread ! we live next to a horse farm and we have a hay pasture in front of our front yard and woods behind us ... lots of critters here , esp the year round resident squirrels who wreak havoc wherever they go ...we have lots of birds year round , we feed them sunflower seeds and suet , cardinals, wrends, chickadees, titmouses, doves, blue jays , juncos, woodpeckers, sparrows, even bluebirds become spring residents in the nestboxes we have in the front yard and down by the garden ... they do their best to eat all the bugs they can find ... we had a wren build her nest on a shelf in our garage last year ... and we even have a pileated woodpecker that visits now and then ... and every so often we hear an owl hoot in the middle of the night , it always wakes us up ... so very cool to hear when they are so close to the house , especially when another owl hoots back in reply . We also have a hawk who hangs out just off our driveway , we think she is hunting for mice in the hay pasture . Of course we also have deer here year round but they seem to show up most often when the garden is close to harvest time ... they like to eat the green beans the day before I go down to pick them .We also have bats we see in the summer at dusk flying around hopefully eating as many mosquitoes as they can get . Last spring we had baby skunks in a den in the hay pasture , momma skunk met an untimely death in the road just past the hay pasture ... a rescue group came and picked up the babies ... they sure were cute . We also have raccoons who show up at night , we think they and the deer are responsible for raiding the birdfeeders on occasion . In the summer we have many butterflies on the butterfly bush and flowers and hummingbirds on their feeder . I can't remember what it is called , I did look it up when I first saw it on the butterfly bush, it looks like a mutant cross between a bumblebee and a hummingbird . I love to get up close and take pictures, they don't seem to mind me with my camera, even the bumblebees pose for me LOL , I like to go out in the evening and see them sleeping on the blossoms . The hummers love to perch up high on our swamp magnolia tree , in the redbud tree or atop the highest branch of one of the fir trees overlooking the front yard . Its fun to watch the male hummers fight off other hummers trying to feed . Never a lack of wildlife around here ;-) Iris PS Several years ago at the house we lived in before we moved here we had baby squirrels born in the tree in our front yard, it was so much fun to see them come down the tree and eat the birdseed and nuts we put out and run back up the tree when momma gave the its time to go home signal LOL ... I also had a fox run right past ( 1 ft away from me ) when I was in the backyard working in the flower bed.

Late to the party but couldn't resist adding my horror story, greatly abbreviated to reduce my stress from reliving this hellish experience. DH & I, retirees on a modest fixed income, sold our longtime house in 7/07 & bought a waterfront shack, intending to build a fairly humble retirement home within 18 or so months. Picked a local experienced waterfront builder who gave us a very affordable informal estimate; had our lot surveyed by JIM HART & ASSOCIATES of KIRKLAND, WA in 9/07, & commissioned the builder's in-house designer to plan our house at a cost of $13,600. Meanwhile, the city was busy putting further restrictions on building, so we had to rush our designer to get the plan submitted in time to avoid the new construction limitations - made the deadline by the skin of our teeth! So happy! Our builder, however, was not being too helpful & procrastinated, & we unfortunately followed his advice longer than we should have done - the upshot was that it took us until 7/09 to finally get our wft building permit - cue dancing in street! The builder then made a formal bid that was over twice what he'd estimated many months previously. We found a better qualified builder at a similar cost & were getting ready to excavate when we were informed by the city that our $13,500 building permit was rescinded because JIM HART's 2007 SURVEY WAS INACCURATE , per alert neighbor's report! Somehow the city overlooked a basic error, despite charging us $135/hr for MANY MONTHS of "expert review." JIM HART's survey incorrectly stated the ordinary high water mark. Our lot is small, & waterfront construction requirements are stringent, so this inaccurate survey meant our house design would not fit on the lot & was now useless, as we'd only be allowed to build a tiny hut if we simply modified the original building permit. We ended up forced to reapply for (& pay again for) a new building permit, get (& pay again for) a new house design, & engage an expensive architect to try to resolve with the city the problems related to JIM HART's INACCURATE SURVEY as expeditiously & inexpensively as possible (MASSIVE FAILURE!!) So now here we sit, in 11/2010, no new building permit YET, the city keeps requiring more info, & we unhappily anticipate our 4th Christmas in a rented storage unit-cum-2 bdrm apt! We thought we could at least recoup some of our expenses from JIM HART, KIRKLAND WA SURVEYOR, but unfortunately, back in the ignorant bliss of 9/07, JIM HART'S contract limited his liability to the cost of the survey only. We have lost over $45,000, EXCLUSIVE of our extended rental costs, lost our hard-won building permit & experienced over 1 year's construction delay solely due to JIM HART's BAD SURVEY! However, we know we are EXTREMELY lucky to have this type of problem - something to engage us in our Golden Years (lucky ol' DH, a former engineer, has even more diversion - he now works as an oncall security guard @ $13/hr on the overnight shift to keep us in dog food!)

(BTW Do any of the Canning Campers recognize that red apron? Also I mailed that box - cheaper than paying United to take it on the plane, and probably better treated by FedEx. I know its a BIG box, but I also know how much work goes into hostessing! ) Karen had arranged for three of us (not DS #1) to go on a duck hunt the morning after we arrived, holding real guns and shooting real birds. Ive gone target shooting before, but I was really looking forward to duck gumbo! We got to Walmart to purchase one day hunting licenses - ooops - $200 EACH. On to Plan B, which was our touring around with Karen, keeping her out of the kitchen, LOL. I have to say that the Huevos Rancheros, for our first breakfast, were delicious. DS #2, my PICKY kid, ate the entire plate. Karen will share the link for the recipe, my brain didn't retain it. I didn't get a picture of everything plated, I thought someone did, ACK! This is the ranchera sauce. Loved it. The second morning she made us grits with smoked gouda and scrambled eggs. I have been dying to try properly prepared Southern grits instead of guessing from a recipe! Once again, PICKY DS #2 ate them all (I got his scrambled eggs). Now I have an idea how to proceed in my own kitchen ! Grits and eggs: Dinner photos from the Mediterranean restaurant: Lots of fish dinners! I cant remember the names! Three fish dinners: DS #1 and I had duck - Ive been getting used to it, DS #1 discovered he loves it, LOL DS #2 had a ribeye. Not a fish kid. Dessert! Dessert! Grand Marinier (sp?) souffle MLCs! (DS #2 is following my tradition of reaching fingers in the photos, no polish sorry) Karens home is absolutely beautiful and guest-friendly. Hey I got to sleep in the same bed as Sharon and Clive, LOL. I wanted to sit out on the porch where Peppi sat and enjoy the river view but it was raining. My only complaint is I didnt get to spend enough alone time with Karen. Come on out to California!