The Herd Is Growing
I am up to 43 chrysalises so far! 12 more have gone into the "J" position and will be chrysalises by morning. They won't all become butterflies at once, but I am guessing to have 5-10 hatching each day once they are ready. I continue to find eggs here and there. I found 35 in Westford on Wednesday evening but only find 5-8 per day around the outside of my house. This afternoon I am going to go to Colchester Pond, which I remember saying last year "Wow I should have checked here for eggs!" because there is LOT of milkweed there. Its very hot again and sunny, and we are borderline drought conditions here in Vermont. I am glad that I can take in these small creatures and give them fresh food, but a little concerned that the milkweed will start drying out and I will have trouble collecting leaves that are usable. We are supposed to get rain tomorrow and have thunderstorms all week long so I'm hoping that takes care of it. However, I will also have a lot of butterflies hatching next week and that will not be great conditions for releasing...I may have to bring them to Jericho and release them in the woods like I did last year during a rainy stretch.
