Hello beautiful soul!
This little guy (or gal) in the photo is soon to become a monarch butterfly. Would you believe that in the middle of winter, this divine creature decided to crawl up the front wall of my house and build a chrysalis?
I was thrilled!
I felt so lucky!
Until I learned we were about to experience highly unusual freezing temperatures.
Then I was anxious.
I felt an enormous responsibility.
How could I keep my new friend safe from freezing temperatures?
Chat GPT suggested I cover the chrysalis with a sturdy paper cup to keep it from freezing. That's what you see in the photo below.
Tell me the truth: Do you think I went overboard with the duct tape?
In my defense, it was very windy.
I am happy to report that my new friend is still plugging away (or whatever monarchs do inside a chrysalis) in preparation for a grand reveal.
Every day I check and the chrysalis turns darker and darker.
I learned some interesting facts about monarchs in South Florida:
1. They often do not migrate
2. They breed continuously throughout the year
3. As long as milkweed is present (yep!) and temps stay above freezing, they can continue their life cycle.
How exciting is this???
I will keep you posted about the progress of my new friend.
