The Monarch

This caterpillar was searching for a place to attach himself.

They have some sort of webbing that attaches from their back end to a hanging surface.

Once they find a suitable place, they hang upside down and make a "J".

It usually takes several hours before they shed their skin.

This one made his chrysalis late this morning.

This is another one of our caterpillars.

He did this last night.

This morning we caught him just as he was finishing.

They shed their skin quickly.

We almost missed it.

You can see another one in the background that is almost ready to hatch.

This one made its chrysalis on 7/20.

This picture was taken on 7/28.

You can almost make out the orange and black of the butterfly's wings.

As time goes on, the chrysalis will get more transparent.

This is how it looked this morning (7/29) around 7 AM.

It's very close to emerging.

I checked it an hour later and this is what I found.

It had emerged and I missed it!

He had just come out and was still dripping fluid.

It is so amazing that a creature like that is all folded up inside that little chrysalis.

He hung like this for about an hour.

Eventually he started pumping his wings.

When he gains his strength we'll free him outside.

We are all in awe of the process that God designed for these beautiful creatures.

We have two more to go.