About the size of a thumb

And I swear, every time I lift the lid to put more birch leaves in, they all turn to look at me. It's a little freaky.

Our second cage

Having a cage that actually has a supportive structure - wow - what a difference that makes! Our new cage is like a Loft apartment and turns out pretty swanky. We had a hard time finding plant saucers. No one sells them individually any more.

Our first cage

Our first cage is better in form than in function. We got a black mesh and circled it around a bunch of times. We thought this would hold it up, but were wrong. A strong wind and a heavy rain both contributed to its collapse. My husband, MacGyver incarnate, rigged a temporary hold in a trash can. But this actually meant that during a heavy rain, it held water, and one of our larger caterpillars drowned. One to cage two.

Mourning Cloak hatches/caterpillars take over planet

Our Mourning Cloak hatched and is gorgeous. She sticks around for a while, opening and closing her wings like a test flight. She is in full display mode. And the polyphemus caterpillars are going through leaves like crazy. They're fat and lime green. In the photo, that's one on top of the quarter. It might eat the quarter.