Comments on: Monarch Butterflies in a Changing World

By: Laura Tangley

Laura Tangley — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:13:00 +0000

Wonderful thoughts … thanks for sharing them!

By: Laura Tangley

Laura Tangley — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:12:00 +0000

Love that quote!

By: Kat

Kat — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 02:00:00 +0000

Thanks very much, Paul! That is great to see.

Plant (and protect) trees in overwintering regions and grow (and protect) milkweeds in the breeding ranges (a huge expanse I know).

I am not worried for the species as a whole (nor the migration) but I feel sad to see the numbers down so low…. especially when I consider all the future resources human populations will demand and consume as our numbers and needs go up up up.

By: Carole Jordan

Carole Jordan — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:51:00 +0000

Thanks to Mona Miller on Western Monarchs list for sharing your blog! I am fortunate
to be here in California just down the road from all points of Monarch love, in San Luis Obispo County, CA and just down the 1 and 101 from my best of best, for activism and love of nature combined, Natural Bridges State Park and the Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, and the Central Coast specifically, including Monterrey Bay and all the smaller overwintering
sites that dot the coastline. I so appreciate being able to now live here, and with native milkweeds growing under my nose.

I encourage everyone to plant milkweed and all pollinator plants that will grow in their area.
Our own health depends on the health of our pollinators. I humbly suggest that we all “Be wise and stop a moment and breathe deeply and then let it out slowly, and think about what it would be like if you couldn’t get the deep breath in. Bless your day, and your family’s days by loving LIFE, make it your primary mission, because if we don’t, we won’t have us, no
air, no breath, no growth, no future. I love LIFE, and I want all people to be able to love theirs. We are all the same organism, it is called EARTH. Let’s do our part, plant milkweed and pollinator plants! Be energy wise and efficient, buy locally, and think about how much carbon we use in our daily footprints”.

Thank you!

By: PaulCherubini

PaulCherubini — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:37:00 +0000

The monarch habitat in Pacific Grove is actually in great shape thanks to new trees that that were planted 20 years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVbfB1bkOXY

By: Mona Johnson Miller

Mona Johnson Miller — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:30:00 +0000

“Now, for the first time in its history, gardening has taken on a role that transcends the needs of the gardener. Like it or not, gardeners have become important players in the management of our nation’s wildlife. It is now within the power of individual gardeners to do something that we all dream of doing: to make a difference.”
– Doug Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home

By: Laura Tangley

Laura Tangley — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:49:00 +0000

I agree, Kathy. And no butterflies without caterpillars! Here’s a story we did a few years ago on “Catering to Caterpillars.” (includes a link to host plants for many larval butterflies): http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Gardening/Archives/2010/Cater-to-Caterpillars-to-Help-Butterflies.aspx

By: StayAtHomeKat

StayAtHomeKat — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:29:00 +0000

you are welcome. Kat for Kathy (and cat and caterpillar) By the way, I so wish that Butterfly House facilities would do so much more to showcase for people the caterpillars and not just butterflies …. the larval form is fascinating and beautiful. Perhaps education in that realm would help people to get over their ‘fear or disgust about all things buggy’ …. and help people learn to live without their pesticides!

By: Laura Tangley

Laura Tangley — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 06:44:00 +0000

Thanks, StayAtHomeKat! (Is that “cat” or “caterpillar”?) I’d not heard about this. How sad. Great that people are trying to replace the trees!

By: StayAtHomeKat

StayAtHomeKat — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:16:00 +0000

no mention by anyone of the 2009 debacle? – the severe pruning of the trees ?

2009 blow to the habitat

The fallout from the falloff of butterflies was more than just dispiriting to Pacific Grove denizens; it resulted in plunging tourist numbers and equally plunging (estimated at 25 percent) business revenue that winter and spring. Talk about a winter of discontent.

L’affair papillon in ’09, in which limbs as high as 50 feet were severely pruned without consulting habitat experts, led the mayor to apologize to the whole town for “a horrible mistake.” The public works director was pruned of his job because of it. Citizens, led by Pacelli, took action, passed the hat and raised enough money to buy boxed eucalyptus trees and move them to crucial windbreak positions in time for the next migration.