This is such an interesting topic. yes, i believe they do stay in chrysalis and that they can somehow sense the weather outside is not favorable. It is just amazing. I am in north Texas where we had pretty mild temps for most of the summer and I had swallowtails emerging pretty regularly. Now that we have had two solid weeks of temps at 107 I noticed that none of my chrysalids have emerged. Nature is so incredible. A couple of months ago I had a giant swallowtail emerge and fly off. Later that afternoon I saw what I am pretty sure was the same bfly come back into my yard and get up underneath a crepe myrtle. He was hanging on for the longest time not going anywhere, when all of the sudden a wild wind and rain storm blew through. So he sensed it was coming and sought shelter long before we saw it. I love this stuff!! :-)

It makes sense that since spider mites are in the arachnid family, they are tougher to get rid of...pesticides for most insects don't work on spiders. I did want to comment on a previous statement (jennq) that once you have them you will always have them...not true! I had a room full of houseplants of all kinds, and they (unfortunately) attacked my "maryjane" plant, which was in the center stage (they were all on the same table) with a vengence. I had been away for a few days and came home to the cannabis in a tent web...covered. I took it outside and disposed of it. That was four years ago and I never had another spider mite. So...yesterday my partner finds a huge majesty palm tree at Lowe's for $5. He brought it home and it was completely covered in webbing and mites (he isn't experienced at looking closely). I probably should have tossed it, but I cut off all but one inner leaf, stripped it of all soil and gave it an underwater soapy neem bath, then gave it a hand sanitizer rub, then repotted and have it in my bathroom for a few weeks. Of course, my anxiety over my other plants getting mites may outweigh my dysfunctional rescue urge here. I wonder if anyone has EVER successfully cleared a plant of spider mites...? I understand plants are more susceptible to these critters when the plant is stressed with watering issues (consistancy helps), but this opens me up to a ton of other questions...

I've tossed the knuckle bone.... after a couple 1 hour chewing sessions out on the deck, it got kinda grimy and pine needles were stuck all over it. Also, I HATE handling raw meat (it makes me wanna have a cheese sandwich for dinner instead), and knuckle bones are included in that quirk of mine. I've given my sheltie the sterilized bones before, but she only likes them with the stuffing in them, and that stuffing is filled with by-products. Blegh. Someone on this forum mentioned that they bought sterilized bones and made their own filling with water-softened dog kibble that was mashed up and then frozen inside the bone. I think I might try that. In any case, I think it's time to break out the dental brush and chicken-flavored toothpaste..... with bones, she's just too much of a "lick the bone" kind of dog, rather than a "gnawing the bone" dog.

I usually figure about 8 oz of meat per person. When you order a portion of meat in a restaurant an 8 oz is pretty good size. Then adjust from there according to big eaters, etc. 35 lbs sounds like a LOT but if it's meat you can freeze it's better to be safe and be able to relax and not worry about it. My DH always teases me about getting too much but last summer he had his motorcycle club over for a cookout. He told me there'd be about 25 people. They came out in droves to see our new home. There was more like 50 people and they were also big eaters, taking 2 burgers as they went through the line. I about had a heart attack and sent my son in law racing to the store and driving across the lawn to get past the bikes to get more meat and buns! We ran out of condiments but there was no time for him to hunt for pickles and mustard. That won't happen to me again!