Catching the "Tiger" by the tail...

I had this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly visiting the backyard today.  Looks like something caught one of its tails.  Maybe a bird.  Maybe a cat.  Who knows.  Thankfully, it survived.  

If you're looking to attract these beauties to your yard, you might want to plant some of these trees:  Yellow Poplar, Black Willow, Lilac, Black Cherry, American Hornbeam, Red Maple, Spicebush, American Elm, Sassafras, among others.

Every butterfly has "host plants" that it uses to lay eggs onto and the caterpillars eat the leaves of those plants and then go to form a chrysalis.  If you see some of your leaves being eaten on certain plants, be sure to check because you might already have a host plant.  Look for very small to larger caterpillars before you go to spraying poisons.