Thursday, August 25, 2011

Critters on Thursday


::Meowwwwww::

You may recall that recently we posted a picture of a Black Swallowtail butterfly close to our potted parsley plant.    Because of our experiences last August, we knew that Black Swallowtail caterpillars will eat parsley so a few days ago Mom went to check the parsley plant to see if possibly the butterfly had laid eggs on it.      She was able to see several really small black caterpillars with a white stripe across the middle.    You may need to click to biggify this picture to see the caterpillar better - it is just below the middle of the photograph.    It was taken on August 18th and is already pretty zoomed.   They were SMALL!


On the 22nd, the humans counted 6 total caterpillars on the plant, which had developed spots and grown considerably, but were still small.  This picture is still zoomed a lot.


We are going to continue to follow these critters, so long as they don't get washed away or blown away by hurricane Irene on Sunday, because we expect to be impacted strongly by the hurricane here.  
For comparison, last August (2010), things were a bit further ahead at this time: the two caterpillars we had were already butterflies by August 28th.    I blogged about the whole process then.    Here are two pictures from LAST year, the first of the caterpillar at its biggest August 15th, and the second of the butterfly that emerged from the chrysalis on the 28th.     We hope to get to see the process again this year, though closer to the Fall like this, the butterflies don't "hatch" until the Spring.



And in other current gardening news, our lazy basil plants that Dad started from seeds are doing a lot better, and Mom even picked 4 small leaves to use in cooking dinner last night!



And last, but definitely not least, the Auction being held to help Sammy Andy Shelly and their family will be ending tomorrow, the 26th.     There are some wonderful things being auctioned such as 2 Peggy Blankies, a catnip quilt, jewelry, cards, kitty frames, a kitty tote, pashminas and shawls, books by Max and Sparkle and Fin, a Petsmart gift card, etc.  Most of the items include shipping!    Click on this link to go to the auction page.    

18 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to sending my book to the winner of its auction!

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  2. I like the small black caterpillars with a white stripe across the middle ! Can I call " Tuxedo Caterpillars" : )

    and Hooray for your lazy basil : ) May be basil didn't mean to be lazy but scared your mom pick the leaves for cooking : )

    Have a lovely day, Simba and Sweet Audrey
    xoxo

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  3. We love the caterpillar pics! And Mr Puddy's comment!

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  4. Audrey's first Mom5:37 AM, August 25, 2011

    Simba, can your humans maybe put the plant in the garage during the hurricane to protect the caterpillars? Just a thought.

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  5. We love watching the progress of those buggies!! We hope they will be safe through the storm, Simba. And we hope you all will be safe too!

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  6. Those caterpillars are really neat looking. That must be fun to keep track of them. Hope Irene misses you. Keeping our paws crossed that it does miss you. Take care.

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  7. What cute little guys those caterpillers are. I hope the hurricane leaves them where they are. Looks like they are happy there.

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  8. Those are all cute ones fur sure. Hey, y'all please keep safe with that monster storm coming and please let us all know you are okay.

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  9. It would be very exciting to see butterflies emerging! Of course, Derry would eat them.

    Do stay safe...We'll cross our paws that Irene veers out, away from land. We know it's not looking like that, but we still can hope.

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  10. How great that you will have butterflies again this year!!! Stay safe and dry this weekend friends!

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  11. I hope Irene doesn't hit too hard! That is so exciting that you'll have more butterflies. Someday when I have a garden, I'm going to have to get some parsley and try this for myself!

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  12. We hope that you don't get way too wet from Irene! And we like your tatterpillers.

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  13. It 's so good of you to nurture these little guys when they are destroying your plants Our paws are crossed for your safe survival of the hurricane.

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  14. That's exciting that you might be growing more butterflies! We hope all of you stay safe from the hurricane!

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  15. Thanks fur sharing the caterpillar pics and post! We luffed the black swallowtail. Hope all is safe during Irene! Haf a pawsome day. xoxo

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  16. Oh I would love to see a butterfly going through all of that. How fascinating. And mommy and I will be finking of you and purring for you and everyone else in the path of the hurricane. xoxoxox

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  17. Wow we did not realize that about those caterpillars!
    We sure hope you all will be safe from Irene.
    We are purring for everyone
    Purrs
    Abby

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  18. Those caterpillars sure look tasty, er, um, pretty.

    Thanks for reminding us about the auction. I made the Human go over there and bid on something else, MOL!

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