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Post by Tallpines on Jul 14, 2020 2:21:06 GMT
They say the monarch population is declining. Do you do anything to help slow down that decline? For several years I have been allowing at least a dozen milkweed plants to use space in my garden for that purpose ...... but with so much milkweed found along our town roads and fence lines I doubted my few plants were making a difference. I recently watched a video about the normal life cycle of the Monarch. The Monarch is threatened by many outside factors in the wild. The man doing the video said that Monarchs getting help from humans actually had a better chance of survival. The video showed how to look for their tiny, tiny eggs. How to collect them. Keep track of their hatch. Feeding the caterpillar ..... watching it’s amazing growth for the next 10 days or so ..... And then watching it transform itself into a chrysalis. I learned that most moths spin a silk cocoon around themselves. Most butterfly’s develop a chrysalis within their caterpillar skin, and when the timing is right, they shed that skin leaving the pupae. Then they just “hang around” until nature allows them to take flight as a beautiful Monarch. My curiosity was hyped... I made a trip to the garden to look for eggs. I found a few but even more exciting were the 8 already hatched caterpillars! They were between 1/2 inch and 2 inches long. I returned to the house to re-watch the how-to video. Now I have those caterpillars in the house and I am prepared to become a butterfly care-taker 🤗 Tomorrow I will have the first lesson on the care of a Monarch with the grandchildren! monarchbutterflylifecycle.com/blogs/raise/monarch-chrysalis-problems-solutions
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Post by Melissa on Jul 14, 2020 2:37:38 GMT
That is pretty neat. Let us know how it works out. Maybe some photos?
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Post by susannah on Jul 14, 2020 2:56:26 GMT
I'd love to read more - as well as see pictures if you take any.
I've actually been seeing more monarchs lately. Normally I see lots and lots of tiger swallowtails, but very few monarchs. So far this year I've seen almost as many monarchs as tigers.
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Post by vickilynn on Jul 14, 2020 12:17:47 GMT
It’s important also to plant flowers that monarch butterflies feed on before they migrate, such as meadow blazing star, purple coneflowers, goldenrod, New England asters. The asters are especially important because they bloom late, and the monarchs feed on them right before migrating.
I have a big patch of common milkweed at the side of my big garden. It does really well there and would take over the whole garden if I didn’t hoe some of it out. There would be lots of milkweed growing in the ditches here, but the township keeps mowing and mowing and mowing.
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Post by Woodpecker on Jul 14, 2020 13:26:24 GMT
I love Monarchs. Here they were on the decline until two years ago, then they boomed again! We buy live Monarchs for my beloved daughters birthday & release them at her resting spot. I see them all summer there. This year when we let one go at a time, every one out of the 15 Monarchs landed on a lilac I planted from my daughters home. We stay for at least 15 minutes and watched them eating pollen from the lilacs....very spiritual for us and oh so cool!!!!
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Post by frogmammy on Jul 15, 2020 2:06:53 GMT
One year my daughter and I lived in a very small town in western Missouri.
One afternoon we heard strange strange sounds from the birds and went outside to see what was going on. There was a cloud of Monarchs that came down from the sky, fluttering lower and lower...at one point we held our hands out and the butterflies coasted by, some landing on our hands for just a few seconds, and then going back into the cloud. Birds flew around the cloud of butterflies, perhaps having a snack on the slower fliers. The butterflies came to rest on the treeline behind the house...it looked like the trees had grown new and colorful leaves, constantly moving. Finally, at some call unheard by humans, the entire cloud of butterflies lifted off the trees, back into the air and heading west. Very quickly they disappeared.
I am 74 now and it was the most magical and mystical moment of my life.
Mon
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Post by Melissa on Jul 15, 2020 2:45:53 GMT
frogmammy, That does sound really amazing... Such a great experience for you and your daughter.
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Post by Woodpecker on Jul 15, 2020 13:25:49 GMT
That sounds so awesome frogmam....It must have felt spiritual too, certainly a site you will never see again. A miracle for you & your girl.
It amazes me how such a fragile butterfly can fly miles upon miles in all sorts of weather...being you saw so many together, they must stay close by to each other on their long flight. Amazing!
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Post by Tallpines on Jul 20, 2020 1:13:11 GMT
Since my first post on Monarchs I have been feeding 7 caterpillars. They started out from just under 1/2 inch to maybe an inch. Starting out, one large sized milk weed leaf was adequate for the day. Very quickly 2 leaves were needed. The bigger they grew, the more leaves were needed. It was almost mind boggling to give them a large fresh leaf in the morning, checking back in an hour or two, and that leaf was chewed down completely with nothing but the bare spine remaining! Yesterday I found the first one to have transformed into a chrysalis. Today I find 3 more that are preparing for the change. The chrysalis is a tad smaller than the large caterpillar, which was about 2 1/2 inches long. The chrysalis seems to be a very compact package. Lime green with several tiny, very bright gold spots. I’ve attached a link to a photo showing one of the chrysalis, next to a mature caterpillar. The caterpillar has created a web type area from which it can hang while making its transformation. The finished chrysalis will continue to hang in that position until it is time for the beautiful Monarch to make its appearance ..... about 2 weeks from now. imgur.com/a/ZDKLaf0.
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Post by solargeek on Jul 20, 2020 11:22:16 GMT
We have 50 acres but most of it's woodEd. However we noticed that milkweed grew in certain areas that previously had been cut down by the guy who was doing our property when we weren't living here. We've let the milkweed come back and our monarch population has increased each year. They are majestic. To me they are the Bald eagle of butterflies!
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Post by Tallpines on Jul 20, 2020 16:54:59 GMT
Our 40 acres is also all Thick woods .... except for where we built the house and garden area. Garden boxes ..... not nearly as many nor as spacious as yours solargeek, ..... are right in front of the house. As the world turns during the day so, too, our shady spots rotate. Anyway ..... getting off my point ..... I purposely planted, and allow milk weed to grow in the corners of a couple of my boxes. I have about 10 plants growing right here in the middle of our woods with us. Happily the Monarchs find their way! This morning I have 4 chrysalis’ and one more cat still chomping on the milkweed. Thank God the fresh supply of milkweed is just 50 feet outside the door. The caterpillars really prefer the FRESH milkweed over anything wilted. Unfortunately 2 of the cats are deceased. I think one was accidentally squished ..... and the other was not able to recover from my attempt to move him after he had already begun to develop his chrysalis. I’m still learning ...... and .... I won’t be doing THAT again!
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Post by Tallpines on Jul 21, 2020 10:43:00 GMT
I had a pleasant surprise last evening! When I checked on my “pets”, I found that one of the caterpillar’s I thought was dead, had transformed into a chrysalis 🙂.
So .... there is just one left to continue the munching on the fresh milkweed. (I continue to be amazed at how quickly they can devour a large milkweed leaf!)
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Post by Woodpecker on Jul 21, 2020 22:34:13 GMT
I was looking at the video I took of the Monarchs at my girls resting spot. It’s amazing...each one after released flew to the near by lilac we had brought from my daughters home. They’re such beauties. It’s so cool to see something like that, close up that normally I’d never see.
It must be so exciting watching them transform !
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Post by Tallpines on Jul 29, 2020 13:27:04 GMT
I released my first Monarch yesterday!
(It was a BOY!)
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Post by Tallpines on Jul 31, 2020 16:55:01 GMT
Released a second one ..... a female!
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Post by Tallpines on Sept 13, 2020 3:13:35 GMT
I’m hoping the predicted warm-up happens this coming week!
I’ve got two newly hatched Monarchs that need to be released soon.
They’ve got a very long migration to do before it gets too cold!
These two hatched yesterday and I’ve got two more chrysalis that should hatch in the nest two days.
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Post by Tallpines on Sept 17, 2020 2:49:57 GMT
It was a beautiful day to release my 4 newly hatched Monarch butterfly’s!
One male and 3 females.
They stopped by the Autumn Joy Sedum for some fresh nectar before leaving our yard.
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Post by Woodpecker on Sept 17, 2020 13:22:49 GMT
I can feel the joy you must have felt while watching the Monarchs flying away, but first stopping for some fresh nectar. I wonder if they always go straight to some nectar when they begin to fly. That's exactly what the live release Monarch's did when we released them at my daughters, straight to the lilac in bloom. I cherish the video I took that day....so very beautiful!
This year I've seen many Monarchs since May when we released them at my girls Heavenly birthday, what a thrill!!!
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Post by grannyg on Sept 28, 2020 16:38:29 GMT
Sadly, very few in our area this year....they used to fly around in droves here years ago...I always got in trouble with the city because I left the flowering weeds grow to feed them...hundreds would flit around, loved them...but so far, I have only seen one this month...I will be putting out sugar stations for them this week if they do appear and need nourishment for their long journey...
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