Monarch butterflies are the only butterfly species to complete a two-way migration from the south to the north and in the fall, back again from Canada and northern areas, to return south again to Mexico or southern Florida. Each year, millions of monarch butterflies leave on one of nature’s most astonishing migrations. These tiny 3 1/2-inch creatures, weighing less than a gram, travel up to 3,000 miles. If they perish during their travels, their offspring are genetically programmed, so they know exactly where to go, though they have never been there before. 

    The lives of these monarch butterflies depend on their ONLY host plant, the butterfly weed. If you have these plants in your yard, the butterflies will find them. The monarchs are fighting to survive, and you can help by planting milkweed, which Laura Hall (974-0203) can give you for free. Here in Kelly, in mid-September, the butterfly numbers are rapidly increasing in our area with the fall migration that has already started. Females lay single, white, tiny eggs, most often on the underside of the milkweed plant, by secreting a small amount of glue to attach firmly. When the eggs hatch into caterpillars, the milkweed leaves are the only thing they survive on.

    One of their most ardent supporters is Patty Atkinson on Terrapin Trace. Patty said, “During one of our Friday Friends meetings, we had a program on monarchs, their life cycle, and their struggle to exist. I was hooked and got plants from Laura, which I planted right outside my back window so that I could watch for the caterpillars. Lately, I have been overwhelmed with the number of caterpillars and have taken some to Laura to help feed and raise in her indoor caterpillar houses. I recently had the joy of releasing a newborn monarch into the wild.”

    We need more people to raise in safe houses. Interested? Call me.