the summer when i was about 10 i found some interesting caterpillars in the hills behind my house... as there was construction going on i collected a few. when i looked them up in the encyclopedia and found they were a protected species i went back to the hills and collected every one i could find. in total i gathered 410! they were the most beautiful caterpillars i had ever seen... the monarch's. i spent the next several weeks collecting fresh milkweed plants every day to put into the large tank i was holding them in. they ate and ate and ate. one morning some changed into their quiet green and gold cases where they would morph into the outstanding orange and black butterflies that we love so well. soon all were in their chrysalis hanging from the sticks i'd placed and along the roof of the tank...yup all 410! it was a marvelous day when they all seemed to hatch within a few hours of each other and pumping their wings would soon be ready to fly. it was august and the air was starting to turn the geese beginning to fly and it seemed all at once when i lifted the cover of the tank all 400 rose as if one orange cloud and sailed over to the topmost branches of our willow trees, rested and then flitted away. i had spent a good many weeks nurturing these creatures with a great reward and had only lost 10 in the process \