Raising Monarch Butterflies

I found 3 Monarch catepillars in the Community Garden over the period of 4 days.  Catepillars 1 and 2 formed chrysalis on the same branch within a few hours of each other.  Catepillar 3 latched onto the netting covering the vase.

On September 23  caterpillar 1 emerged from it's chrysalis.   It flew out of the vase.  That orange speck in the middle of the tree is the monarch.  It then landed on the nearby apple tree to get acclimated to it's new life.
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On September 24, caterpillar 2 emerged from it's chrysalis. I was fortunate enough to see it start to unfurl it's wings.  It crawled out of the vase onto the autumn sedum in the Community Gardens but didn't want to fly.  After waiting and watch for quite a while, I finally moved it down to the Prairie Garden to live in the asters until it was ready to fly.  A few seconds later, it took off and landed on the wire around the raspberry bushes.  That was were I left it.

Caterpillar #3 emerged on September 25.  It crawled out of the vase into my zinna bed.  Then if flew to the ground and sat there for awhile.  When I went back to check on it an hour later it was gone.

Haven't seen any monarchs since I released these 3.  Safe travels little ones.