I had begun preparing this page a few weeks ago, but I suppose I found it difficult to write, since the release represents our last monarch of 2020.
As it was, raising late-season monarchs was more than challenging. For starters, for the caterpillars, our milkweed was beginning to lose its potency by mid-September. The caterpillars had to eat that much more milkweed to have the same growth results as those caterpillars raised in August and the beginning of September.
Nevertheless, the release of this monarch, who Sue and I named Meadow, was a happy occasion, because despite all the other problems of other caterpillars not succeeding to become a monarch, Meadow proved to be a remarkably strong flyer.
Due to cold weather, we had to leave Meadow indoors for a few days. When the weather turned bright and warm, Meadow soaked in all the sun he could.
