KITTY CAT IN A BAG & MONARCH CHRYSALISES READY TO OPEN

KITTY CAT IN A BAG & MONARCH CHRYSALISES READY TO OPEN

Brrrrrr it's cold!!

The two owls hoo-hooing in my trees have left for a few days because of the cold.  They always come back when the really cold weather passes.

Last week I found a huge owl nest in my tall montezuma cypress tree.  

I HOPE, HOPE, HOPE they are going to nest there.

Yes, this is a kitty cat in a plastic garbage bag.

My outside cats have very warm beds in the garage and garden shed, but they like to stay curled up by the front door.  A couple of days ago it was very windy and cold and the bag idea came to me.  I put a very fluffy beach towel in each bag and curled the yellow tie string around a metal table to hold it open a little bit.  Immediately this little neighbor cat (who lives over here) climbed in.  Every time I walk out the front door, she meows and comes out of her cozy bag.  She loves it!

There are 6-9 monarch chrysalises now.  I'm worried about them because the next two days are going to be very cold.  The weather lady said sleet  and ice.  I hope they don't freeze to death. 

For some of them, tomorrow will be 14 days since they first started their chrysalis. 

Like any fertile egg, as the embryo grows the egg will darken.  

Three of the chrysalises are dark now because the monarch wings have formed.  I'm not sure if they will come out in the cold or if they know to wait for better weather.  

I'll be watching closely.

The picture on the left is a caterpillar a few days ago getting ready to start spinning.  You can tell because they attach themselves to something and form a perfect J.

The monarch chrysalis has very shiny metallic gold on it.  A gold band and little metallic gold specks here and there.  They're really beautiful, especially in the sun.

 In the beginning, they are very light green, but this chrysalis is dark now because the wings have formed.