"Survivor" was a Monarch caterpillar who I basically nearly drowned since I wasn't even aware of her presence on the milkweed I had soaked in the tub to wash. She defied all odds and made such a fantastic turnaround towards the end, after a really unsure start.

After being woefully undersized for her 1st 3 instars, where she was barely growing, barely eating, and barely alive, I noticed that she tried her hardest to eat the milkweed leaf she was on, but just didn't have enough strength to do so, and got so tired afterwards. That's when I had the idea to sacrifice one of the thinner, more tender leaves from a small milkweed plant in a pot friends had given me. That plant couldn't really afford to lose many leaves in order to survive, but I was totally committed to this caterpillar (as I am with all animals I decide to put under my care), especially since it was my fault for putting her at such a disadvantage in the first place.

To my delight, she gobbled up that leaf. I sacrificed another leaf off the same plant, and she gobbled up that one, too. Afterwards, she gained so much more strength and energy, like she was Popeye after a can of his spinach. She finally had enough strength to eat the rest of the normal milkweed leaves I had ready for her, and EAT SHE DID.

For her 4th and 5th instars, she exploded in size, and tipped the scales of her growth charts. Every phase of raising a Monarch caterpillar can end disastrously, but she shed the rest of her skins fine, pupated fine, eclosed with no problems, and flew off into the blue yonder happily.

This is the video of her eclosing, capturing that 1st crack open and her 1st flight headed towards Mexico afterwards, ending her short, but inspirational, time with me here. Sound up for the video for the best effect, please.

Enjoy!