Tuesday morning, I woke up from a text from my former neighbour, asking me how the monarch chrysalis was doing. So I immediately went out to check.

the Chrysalis was clear, so it was the day!

Because it was a work day, I wasn’t able to sit out there and watch. I was in meetings all morning, so I didn’t even have a chance to come out and when I finally did, just after 12 pm…

I had missed it! She was out the the chrysalis with her wings completely inflated! I’ve seen the whole process before, but it’s still fascinating to watch, so I was a little disappointed.

Because this one was so close to the catio, I once again had to do an emergency relocation.

This is a picture from earlier that morning when I first checked on it. Lemmy was happily hunting crickets (and yes he eats them, and yes, he throws them up on my floors). When I came out again, after the emergence, he of course ran over to see what I was doing. And he caught site of that pretty monarch just hanging there in oh-so-easy reach! Another second or two and she would have been a goner!

I relocated her to the Prairie Coneflower in the nice warm sun.

She hung out there for a couple hours, gaining the strength to make her first flight.

She struggled a little bit and ended up in the grass a few times.

I helped her back up and it didn’t take too much longer for her to find her wings and be on her way! I hope she has safe travels!