The 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Adventures

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies are finally 
having a good year. 
Conditions this spring were favorable as the cloud of monarchs migrated north from their wintering grounds in Mexico into southern U.S. 
The summer was also easy on the butterflies as the next generations migrated into the northern states. Many thousands of them make their way into the Great Lakes basin.
MonarchWatch.org collects data and also sells milkweed plugs so concerned monarch fans can cultivate this important plant on their land.

Milkweed is the ONLY plant that monarchs will lay eggs on. It is the ONLY plant that the caterpillars of the monarchs will eat.

While hiking on Manitoulin Island, I saw the most beautiful milkweed plants: 


The amount of milkweed growing along the migratory path of the monarchs has been declining for years and has caused a huge drop in the number of monarchs.
Learn more HERE.

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