Monarch Caterpillar

taken:
day thirty nine
07.29.2014

I was so excited when I noticed two monarch caterpillars on this late July day. Here's one of them. For several days after, every time I walked through my garden they were there, gradually munching away on the leaves of my butterfly weed. Then one day they were gone. Maybe it was time for them to crawl away to find a safe place for their transformation? I searched around trying to find their chrysalises but didn't have any luck. It would have been so fun to find them and watch for a monarch butterfly to emerge.