I had to send out an SOS on Facebook to find alternative foods for my Monarch caterpillars. The Very Hungry Caterpillars had munched their way through all the leaves on my two plants and unlike the story, they didn't seem to like 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums or the assortment of chocolate cake, pizza offered by Eric Carle. They like grated pumpkin apparently - but not my little munchers. This one got to the end of the plant but looked for more. I had to do an emergency dash to the neighbours with a bowl full of caterpillars and then grate the pumpkin for those remaining on the bare plants/ Of course they turned up their feelers up at the pumpkin. I seriously did not have this much trouble feeding veggies to my own children!
The older caterpillars can adapt to pumpkin but I don't grate it, I just put pieces of cut unpeeled pumpkin for them to munch on plus a few twigs for them to attach their crysalis to. Great photo by the way.
@snaphappi Thanks Maggie - I have had a little bit more success with the pumpkin today however they still keep 'leaving home' in search of something better.
