Have a degree in Criminal Justice and work for Customs & Border Protection. Met Sue Sill, director of our local NABA park, one day when she was coming back from Mexico. Kept meaning to drive out to the park but just never made the time. Guess you can say I finally got off my duff in Jan 2005 but the park was closed due to the freak snowfall we got Christmas Eve, 2004. So I started volunteering with the revegetation and also started planting nectar and larval hosts in my yard.

Really got hooked on butterflies back in September 2005 when I found some rare Marius Hairstreak caterpillars feeding on my duranta bushes (asked Gil Quintanilla to raise them as I'd never raised a caterpillar before). Have read and learned about butterflies and decided to get my feet wet as far as caterpillar raising goes by trying my hand at the common ones that frequent my yard: Gulf Fritillaries, Giant Swallowtails, Black Swallowtails, Monarchs and Queens. Have since raised Ceraunus Blues, Checkered Whites, Variegated and Mexican Fritillaries, Ornythion Swallowtails, American Ladies, Pluto Sphinx Moths and a few other butterflies and moths. Am currently raising a batch of Guava Skippers - a female laid eggs on my guava tree last month.

Hope to attract some other not so common butterflies and have been on a quest to obtain larval hosts for crackers, clearwings and daggerwings as well as Malachites, Red Rims and Common Mestras.

I also drive out to the ranch in Starr County to watch butterflies and caterpillars and learn about the native plants and weeds used as larval hosts.