You may or may not be aware of the problem with the plastic grocery bags that we get at the grocery stores. It takes a plastic bag 1000 years to break down in a landfill. Then once the particles are broken down, they will not and cannot be used by anything. They will sit there in our earth forever. Somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, millions end up in the litter stream outside of landfills.

Many people and stores (like the Whole foods Market-click here for the link on the story) are taking a stand against plastic bags and are encouraging people to use reusable bags instead.

Many local stores are starting to sell reusable PolyPropylene bags. These are great, but they cannot be washed in the washing machine when they get dirty. There is a website that sells canvas bags for 99 cents each! For bigger, heavy-duty bags with a 4 1/2″ wide bottom that are only $2.89 (click here for link). Their website is www.cheaptotes.com.

I encourage you to please think about the impact you are making on the earth when you take home 10-20 plastic bags from each shopping trip that you make. One purchase of the canvas totes will last you for years to come!

If you don’t have the money to buy new reusable bags, just take your used plastic bags from your last trip with you to the store and reuse them!

I was sad to hear from a local nursery in December that the season for Gulf Fritillary butterflies was coming to an end.  I enjoy watching them on the passion vine.  Since then, I have seen absolutely no sign of their season ending.  My vine is just crawling with at least 30 caterpillars now, even though our temperatures have been down into the 40’s and 50’s at night.  It was once down into the high 30’s a few weeks ago.  Whatever the reason, hopefully they will stay around a while.

I noticed that one of them was smart by forming it’s chrysalis on the south side of the house…where most of the sun is.  Unfortunately, we received a notice from our homeowners association that we need to have our roof pressure cleaned.  When they clean the roof, the gook gets all over the house and then they need to clean the house as well.  I am VERY stressed out and sad about all of the caterpillars that will be killed by the pressure cleaner.  I guess I will be out there hunting for them so that I can protect them.  I read once that you can remove it by attaching a string to the top, but I don’t know if that works.  If anyone knows how to successfully remove a chrysalis from a house without disturbing the butterfly inside, please let me know!

This is an absolutely WONDERFUL website to find out which butterflies are in your area:

http://butterflywebsite.com/atlas/constructtable.cfm

We have been very busy with homeschooling and holidays and I have neglected my beautiful site. Our current Monarch butterfly release count is 34. This does not include the 3 butterflies that had problems opening their wings. The wings were all scrunched up and curled. I think they had a problem hanging on once they came out of the chrysalis. A few of them fell to the ground and were not able to hang on after that. I kept them in a plastic container and fed them hummingbird food through a cocktail straw. Two of them ended up dying within a few days. However I kept one alive for over a week by caring for it in this way. I have been able to put a fallen butterfly back on the roof of the cage and it did actually complete the wing drying process and was able to be released.

It is so exciting to know that I have played an important role in keeping the Monarchs alive in this area.

I have been wanting to add a live video camera to my butterfly garden and backyard. I have read numerous articles lately about live cameras being deployed in remote locations to view wildlife and nature. I have been learning about CCTV cameras and home surveillance systems because it seems like the best way to do it. These systems allow you to setup outdoor security cameras which feed video back to a DVR recorder. The DVR can be attached to a network and allow people to view your cameras over the Internet.  Here are some sample pictures using software that comes with a DVR from CCTV Camera Pros: DVR viewer.

I can not justify the cost just for my butterfly garden hobby but the real reason for these systems is for home surveillance and security. I think that I can justify the cost for that and I am considering to add the following equipment to my house:

• 4 camera home surveillance system
• PTZ security camera

The link to the PTZ camera has a video demonstration. I would really like to be able to move the camera around remotely and be able to zoom in to possible catch some action.

If anyone has any any experience with these systems, please post comments.

Our current count is:

6 Released

1 butterfly in nursery still, and unable to fly.  This butterfly’s wings didn’t open up and he is still in my care.  I have been feeding it a store bought solution of hummingbird nectar and boy, does he love it!    I called The Butterfly Place and they recommended that I place it on the milkweed plant in hopes that it will feed and mate.  However, it has a hard time holding onto the plant for more than 10-20 minutes, so I have not been able to let it free.  I rolled a paper towel into a tube and set it inside a pot so that it would be able to hang on better.  It seems to be working well.  I hope he can survive for a few weeks.  Maybe the butterfly inside the chrysalis will mate with it. 

1 in chrysalis

1 chunky caterpillar released onto outside milkweed plant (gone the next day)

We released Monarch Butterfly #6 into the wild this morning. I tried to release it near the Penta plant in hopes that it would land on it to feed, but it went up to the palm tree instead. Hopefully it stays in my yard instead of landing on a nearby pesticide dowsed yard. I am curious as to the health of a butterfly after feeding from plants that have been sprayed by pesticide. I will try to research that soon.

Our current count is:

• 6 released

• 1 inside chrysalis

• 2 chunky caterpillars

• one baby caterpillar

We released Monarch Butterfly #5 into the wild this morning. It is amazing to see the butterfly inside the chrysalis the day before it comes out. You really have a chance to study it since it can’t fly away.

My butterfly nursery has been very successful so far. Our current count is:

• 5 released

• 1 inside chrysalis

• no more caterpillars… I need to bring some from the milkweed plants.

• We also have 3 Gulf Fritillary chrysalises on our Passion Vine plant.

Unfortunately, I found one of the two large caterpillars laying in the dirt of the milkweed plant inside the nursery. He was in his J shape and moving his front feet, so I picked him up and put him on a safe surface (I didn’t want him to drown when I watered the plants). I figured he probably fell of the branch and would be fine, hopefully forming his chrysalis soon. This morning he was black and very lifeless. I guess even the best “safe house” doesn’t protect them all.

We released our 4th Monarch butterfly from our little make-shift butterfly cage / nursery. We have one inside its chrysalis still. It has been hard for me to find caterpillars on the milkweed plants. The wasps do a really good job of eating them.

Now that the milkweed is getting leafier, it is getting easier for the baby Monarchs to hide. I found two mid-size caterpillars today to add to the nursery.

The count as of today is :

4 released

1 inside chrysalis

2 medium size caterpillars

What is hydrogenated oil? Hydrogenated oil is the process of forcing hydrogen gas into oil at high pressure and temperature. It is used to take the place of butter in many baked items… some of the things that contain hydrogenated oils are crackers, cookies, frozen waffles, pudding, peanut butter, cereal bars, granola bars, prepared frozen foods, most prepared foods, soups (canned and powered), salad dressings, and more. Try picking up any item in the grocery store. Chances are that it will have partially or fully hydrogenated oils.

Listed on Oprah’s website in the ‘Food Hall of Shame’, “To increase their shelf life, Dr. Oz says certain oils are hydrogenated. This process turns the oil into a solid at room temperature, but it also makes the oil unhealthy. “This stuff is great because it doesn’t go bad, but it’s very bad for you,” says Dr. Oz. Avoid food products that contain hydrogenated oil, often labeled as ‘trans fats’.”

What makes hydrogenated oil bad for us?”. There are so many sites out there that provide detailed explanations on why it is bad, but in short, hydrogenated oil contains toxic trans fatty acids. Trans fatty acids contribute to heart disease, cancer, MS, diabetes, and may contribute to other health problems that we have yet to find out about. The following link does an excellent job of explaining it: What’s Wrong with Partially Hydrogenated Oils?

Eric Armstrong has a great site that clearly explains the reasons why you should not eat anything with hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup. He also explain how to carry out an effective consumer boycott of the products that harm us. He says in this article, “It’s one thing not to buy a product. It’s even better to boycott the product in a way that it makes it less likely that others will buy it.” Eric writes, “…after a while, it hit me. I came up with a way to carry on a small, one-person boycott of unhealthy products in a way that has a larger impact. It’s pretty simple, really. When I find a product that has partially hydrogenated oils or High Fructose Corn Syrup, I put it back on the shelf upside down and backwards….as more and more people catch on to the concept, I’m betting it could have a huge impact. If nothing else, I leave the store knowing that I’ve done something. Even if I’ve only kept one product out of one person’s hands, it’s something”

I agree with this boycott strategy, and I will be starting to do it as well. I hope that more people catch on.