2012 Veg Garden Ghostly Visitation

I've never seen a white furry caterpillar before so was very surprised to see this one in a very wet predicament on a rock in the fountain. It was fairly large, and still probably due to the cold and wet location. Since we don't see many except gypsy moth caterpillars here my first thought was to destroy it in case it turned into something that would eat my veggies next spring. Then I thought it was so pretty perhaps it was a butterfly? So, you know what happened next. Drop in aerial rescue and relocation to a safe and hopefully food filled blackberry bramble in the sun. I have to wonder if this odd sighting is an indication of things to come. We are over 50 days without rain here in the pacific northwest, a record for us, leading many to speculate on the insect implications. My home is surrounded by maple and fir trees and I noticed what seemed to be many more monarch (? Large, pale yellow and black?) butterflies flitting through the leaves this summer.