During this past summer I helped to raise over 20 monarch caterpillars. In the wild only 1 in every 100 monarch eggs will make it to adult butterfly. Not only do they have to find milkweed to feed on and deal with predators as they grow but they also have to go through the process of metamorphosis. Ideally when ready a caterpillar will climb up and away from the milkweed they have fed on and find a relatively safe hidden underside of a leaf or twig to spin a thread and hang from as they pupate. I quickly realized though that ideal isn't necessarily reality. My little crew would find all sorts of strange and less than ideal places! These little ones have found some washing drying on a clothes line to suspend themselves from. When they eclose they then need a couple of hours to dry their wings before they can fly. It gives the term hanging out to dry a whole new meaning doesn't it.
Transparent Watercolour 15 by 22 inches