Milkweed and Monarchs

Across the Fence #559


It’s time to give the Monarch butterfly a little time in the sun. Some say monarch butterflies are the most beautiful butterflies and are considered the ”king” of the butterflies, hence the name “monarch.”

My small patch of milkweed near the house is growing, and the caterpillars have been busy eating on them. This is the start of what I hope will be an expanding crop of milkweed. Last spring while walking down by the pond, I came across some milkweed plants where the pods were still intact. I removed the pods and took them home; where I opened them and let the seeds fall on the ground in a corner where our four-season room is located. I had forgotten about doing that until I noticed a bunch of milkweed plants one day. I’ll use those plants this fall when they ripen and spread them over a larger area, including the area where our septic is located. That works two ways: camouflaging the septic area and providing a food source for the caterpillars of the monarch butterflies. The important thing is they will be far enough away from the fields, where cutting and herbicides would kill them. They are also away from the road ditches where crews are constantly destroying all the wildflowers and habitat for wildlife, bees, and butterflies.

We’ve always had a lot of monarchs around our place. Milkweed plants used to be plentiful along the fence line behind our house. I try to protect them but they keep disappearing. Mowing and herbicides wipe out most of them. I’d hate to see the day when that fence line and all the natural habitat that grows alongside the fence, is destroyed. Milkweed plants are essential for the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. I think that’s why we still see a lot of them when many people say they’ve only seen one or two all year. At least we still have a small crop of milkweed.

When the caterpillar feeds on the milkweed plant it ingests cardiac glycoside. This substance gives the monarch a foul taste and they are poisonous to birds and other predators. When birds see those bright yellow and orange colored butterflies, they know they need to avoid them.

Most people don’t give much thought to the extraordinary life cycle of the monarch. Ever since I first learned that those little fellas fly up to three thousand miles south to spend the winter in central Mexico, I knew there was something special about them. At the Mexico wintering sites, the butterflies roost in the Oyamel trees, a species of evergreen. They form large communities numbering in the millions of individuals. Illegal logging of those trees in Mexico is destroying much of their habitat and in 2012-13 a survey showed a 92% decrease in the monarch population when compared with the 1996-97 count. That’s alarming.

I realize not everyone gets excited about a little butterfly. They are certainly not on the agenda of the endless parade of presidential hopefuls. In reality, it would probably be the death knell of their campaign if they came out in favor of saving a lowly butterfly. Such actions would undoubtedly cut into the profits of the large donors who fill the campaign pockets of the candidates. They will dictate their wishes to the candidates who will then swing in whatever direction the large corporate donors want them to swing. Pesticides and herbicides create large profits. Natural habitat will have to be sacrificed to make way for larger fields to accommodate larger machinery. Loss of habitat and butterflies are just a couple small pieces of the universe that are disposable and not essential to most people. 

I think the loss of the monarch butterfly would create a huge hole in the fabric of the universe that would be hard to replace.

In my opinion, I think the world would be a better place if we had more monarch butterflies and less power-hungry egos wanting to be president. Unfortunately, the number of presidential candidates keeps increasing while the number of monarchs is decreasing. 

Man has become the biggest enemy to the monarch and their source of food. The yearly decrease in their population has been linked to the decrease of the milkweed plant that provides their primary food source. 

Hopefully, I can keep adding to their food source, one milkweed plant at a time. If enough of us provided a small patch of milkweed, it would start to add up. I’d rather have a back yard full of milkweed plants, wild flowers, and monarch butterflies, than a bunch of grass that needed to be mowed down each week. 

We can still save the monarch butterfly by not destroying its entire habitat and food source. My hope is that enough people are willing to do that?

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