The monarch came back last Sunday and laid more eggs. Out of desperation, I emailed our wonderful metropark system to see if anyone there had any resources that might be able to help me save some of the caterpillars if they managed to hatch. Someone there got in touch with someone else who got in touch with someone else...and that person connected me to a group of people that are also monarch enthusiasts. Several of them have milkweed, and we were able to make arrangements to distribute the caterpillars among the folks who could feed them if they did indeed hatch.
Guess what we found today?! Danielle and I found 22 teeny tiny, newly hatched monarch caterpillars! And there are at least 10 eggs that haven't hatched yet. We brought the caterpillars inside to protect them from the fluctuating temperatures. I have enough milkweed to feed them until they're a little bigger, so my plan is to see who survives and grows and then "rehome" them. Seems like a lot of work for a caterpillar, doesn't it? Maybe it is, but I think it's important to do what we can to save them.
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