My grandmother always said, “Haste makes waste.”  It’s true for anyone, even a caterpillar.  The last two caterpillars roamed for over a day to find their perfect spot, but this first one anchored under the first leaf he found.

I use he because the female Monarch population is dropping but also because only a man would be so impatient and impractical!  The leaf had been gnawed down to a stem and dried up within days.  It had just about snapped off when I rigged the chrysalis back up with some thread.  But again it didn’t hold in place.  The future wings were resting on the stem of the milkweed, which didn’t give him enough room to spread ‘em on emergence.

He needed more space.  Here’s his upgraded digs – the handle of a planter pot.