Animals: Swallowtail Caterpillar!!!

[BrandonDaCollector]

Indeed he does and yes there is, I have seen many of'em but not all of'em. There is actually more cryptid films out there then one would think believe it or not

Ah that is so good of you to do that for Matt, I'm glad you did it and I love that He looks really pretty and his new home is set up really well. I saw your reflection there PB, your wife & kids too right They do know about Me now since you took pics and postin'em right Well, that is so cool and so good of you and your family doing that for Matt PB

[packerbacker180]

Yeah, I didn't realize that picture was behind until after I posted the pics and I didn't feel like changing it. That was from Medieval Times in Myrtle Beach I think last year, 2021. You can see my paper crown, lol.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Dang, I thought it was real time there, that was cute PB

[BrandonDaCollector]

I saw this last nite. It's not a cryptid but it shows you how rare animals can be and that there is MORE out there than what we know. Thoughts

[packerbacker180]

Cool. Yeah, even though they're shrinking, there's still a lot of uncharted areas for animals to hide. You never know what's out there.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Indeed. I believe Patty (you do know that Sasquatch is a female right? It has been known that she has boobs) is real in that pic however her doing the thumb was a CGI mock-up by somebody clever.

[packerbacker180]

Sadly, Matt's time with us came to an end today as I found him nestled up in the leaves we had laid in his home. It's been just about two weeks since we took him in, so it wasn't completely unexpected. Even still, I'm kind of sad about it. It might seem kind of silly to be upset, but he was a little member of the family for a brief time. The cats liked to watch him mover around. The dog liked to sniff him when my wife brought him out. It seemed cruel to have wings and be unable to fly, so I hope he had a content life. It was in the 30s and low 40s for a few days after we brought him in so at least he lived longer than he might've on his own. At times it seemed like he was trying to climb out of the box because I'm sure that wasn't an ideal way to exist and that made me a little sad.

This was the last picture I took of him a few days ago when it was nice and sunny and I moved to a table where he could be in the sun longer.



We put some grass in a little baseball card box and laid him on top. I'm going to bury him behind the house later tonight. You don't get to really see butterflies up close like that very often as they always seem to be on the fly, so it was a treat to have him around even for just a brief time.

[BrandonDaCollector]

Ah oh no, that is so sad Even insects can bring tears to your eyes He could have been older that what we thought he was. He may have been a survivor as I may be incorrect and he was attacked by some kind of predator like a Bird or Cat and was lucky getting away from them I hope your son is taking it ok and understands this unfortunate loss You shouldn't feel bad however because you helped Matt, you gave him a nice & expensive home (a little money but a lot of effort) which is something many other people wouldn't do. May Matt RIP

[packerbacker180]

Thanks. My kids seem to be ok with it. My youngest cried a little when we put Matt in his box last night. I think I may be handling it the worst. I don't handle these kinds of things very well. I love animals. We have 6 cats and a dog. One other cat we had passed a few years ago, and another was an outdoor cat that we let out one night at the old house and he never came back.

I wasn't really sure if Matt was gone or not and worried maybe it was some form of diapause or something, so I did a little research online last night and actually emailed a local Monarch butterfly farm last night in the hopes they made shed some light on it, and they were kind enough to respond this morning.

Thanks for making an effort and taking the time to assist Matt.
Often this time of year a few Monarchs do emerge not in the best shape , that's just nature. The butterfly would not survive til spring even if you kept it indoors. I believe from how you described it's condition, the butterfly has expired.
The proper way to lay Matt to rest is to put him in an envelope and leave in the freezer overnight and then simply cover with leaves somewhere quiet out in nature, thanks again for your kindness tword nature, we need more people like yourself.

Well, even though I really appreciated the response that made me cry again. I probably shouldn't admit these things online but there it is. So I was looking some more at their website this morning and decided to buy some milkweed seeds from them for the kids to plant next spring and donated $10 in Matt's memory. I know it's not much, but I wanted to thank them for even replying.

So I just put Matt in the freezer as they suggested, and later I want to bury outside under one of our back windows that way when the lights are on it'll warm his ground

Here's one last picture of Matt my daughter had taken with her phone.



Here's the website of the gentlemen I spoke to by email. Give them a follow on Facebook or twitter if you do those kinds of things.
https://easternmonarchbutterflyfarm.com/

[BrandonDaCollector]

Your welcome PB. It's ok. Believe Me when I say I know this sad stuff all to well about animals so don't pound yourself about it. It's ok. Is all I can say is you did good by contacting them and it was good that they replied which I'm surprised they did and all that. I cannot follow them, I don't do SM.

Matt knows you helped him/her, you did your part and that's what counts PB