Mother's Day Surprise

by Rachel
(Huntersville, NC)

I received a spice garden for Mother's Day and now I have two beautiful black swallowtail caterpillars on it. I need to know what to do. It is outside on my deck which gets direct sunlight half of the day. I am concerned that they will get eaten by birds so I put branches in and draped a net over the plant. I bought a butterfly garden house for them but, I am not sure if I should transfer them. Should I put them in the garden house and keep it outside or bring it inside? I want to help them as best as I can because they are at risk for heavy rains, lots of sun and birds. Thank you!

Karen says:
What a wonderful surprise from your Mother's Day present! If you want to observe the awesome miracle of transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, I would bring them inside. Just keep them fed and they will be happy (you can even buy parsley from the store if you run out:) Usually the caterpillars don't wander too much from their food until it is time for them to become a chrysalis. I hope this helps. Enjoy!