That is really awesome. I would set up a monarch habitat, if it wasn’t for the fact that the squirrels ate my milkweed. I’m hoping the plant will grow back.
I didn’t realize that squirrels would eat milkweed. We have TONS of squirrels here, and they haven’t bothered mine. I have two kinds of milkweed growing in a patch, swamp and common.
I’m telling you, I feel certain that I had over 100 caterpillars on those plants. It wasn’t until we had a sudden drop in temps that I even considered getting them in a habitat. So for several days I brought the habitat inside our house, but in the basement. I turned on an old desk lamp during the day to keep them warm. Then it warmed up again, and I took the habitat back outside.
I had gone from 28 caterpillars to 35, in a few days, because there had been eggs on the leaves that I hadn’t noticed. It was very much an education for me to watch and learn. They were adorable! It was about 6 weeks of daily work. Several times I was able to watch the chrysalis formation, and also watch them emerge from the chrysalis. Very cool. Then to let them take their first flights..well, I was one proud foster mama!