The rescue of Cecil, Tiffany, and Mattie

No wonder I can't find time to write. I have become obsessed with monarch butterflies and spent the better part of yesterday dashing through fields with my husband trying to save the few remaining caterpillars before hurricane Sally blew them away. We found five babies and one teenager and relocated them to a rehab facility on our back porch.  After doing a bit of reading about the monarch butterfly and how these creatures are becoming extinct, we learned an unexpected fact. The milkweed plant that the monarch seeks and needs to deposit  its tiny egg can be dangerous to its offspring, the caterpillar. The milkweed plant does not want to be eaten and gives off a milky gummy substance that if the caterpillar drinks it, he or she will die. But the caterpillars are smart too; they have learned how to notch the stem of the milkweed plant, gobble up the leaf and avoid the milky poison, that is until someone in the neighborhood soaks the plants with pesticides or digs up the ground to build gardens or new construction, thereby destroying the only plant on which the Monarch can raise its children and keep its cycle of life going. If you like butterflies, I encourage you to turn off the TV,  visit YouTube channel for Mr. Lund the Scientist and learn about Monarchs (butterflies, not the Royals;) you will be hooked and want to grow plants yourself. At least I hope so. These sweet creatures need a place to come back to.