Friday, November 6, 2015

The Beautiful Monarch


After reading a great deal about the extraordinary Monarch butterfly, we decided to enlist in Monarch Watch’s proliferation efforts and rear some ourselves. The caterpillars arrived in small containers. Immediately after arrival, they need to be fed fresh milkweed and set up in their rearing container. 

We purchased a 10 gallon aquarium at our local hardware store to rear them in. The paper towels needed to be replaced and freshly washed milkweed needed to be supplied every day.

The biggest risk to the caterpillars is always disease. So the container had to be kept clean and any seemingly sick caterpillars had to be quarantined in separate spaces to prevent infection of the rest of the caterpillars. 

You can see how small they are when they arrive. The tiny caterpillar is at the very tip of the milkweed leaf. 


We set up our rearing station in the front room, away from too much noise and direct sunlight. 



It wasn't long before our tiny caterpillars started to grow.



It really makes the heart sing to watch the whole process. 

It also breaks your heart when some don't survive or are not well. That is what happened a day after I took this photo. I woke up to sluggish, under the weather caterpillars. 

My first fear was disease (specifically Black Death) as it is so easy to pass on bacteria and viruses when they share the same space. 



The morning they seemed under the weather, we rushed to our local thrift store and bought individual containers for each of them, in case it was an illness. All the containers were washed and dried and filled with fresh milkweed. 

I was in such a state of heart break that I had to have Mike take over for a day or two as I couldn't bear to see them not doing well. Thankfully, day by day, they recovered which led me to believe that turning on the heat in the house dehydrated them. 



And so they sat happily in the window... Recovering and growing. 



They are hungry little caterpillars so an abundant supply of fresh milkweed is always in order. 



Then one day, one by one (at different times throughout the week), each caterpillar crawled up to the top of their jars...



...and formed the classic J to prepare for their chrysalis stage. 



The color variations throughout their amazing life cycle is quite astounding. They go from black and yellow stripes to completely green. 


Then after several days, the green chrysalis turns black and becomes transparent so much so that one can begin to see the beautiful monarch colors shining through. You can even see the butterfly moving inside. 


Then the beautiful Monarch emerges and her miraculous transformation is complete. 


We were quite proud of our Monarch Butterflies. We became very attached to them and of course with that, came a great deal of worry...About their lengthy migration ahead (to Mexico or areas of Southern California), about the weather, the temperatures, etc. Due to our New England location, we ended up driving our butterflies about two hours south to where the temperatures were at least five degrees warmer. Luckily, the forecast called for 70 degree temperatures and no precipitation for the following week. 


Fair thee well my friend....

I cannot end this post without a little story about milkweed. 

We were lucky to have several milkweed plants in our flower beds here at the rental house. But as the nights grew cooler, the milkweed deteriorated. One of my fears as to why the caterpillars became ill was that the milkweed we had was of poor quality. 

I was literally in a state of desperation that morning I awoke to find our caterpillars under the weather. I was a sobbing mess actually and wanted desperately to figure out a way in which to revive them. Unfortunately, I could not find any more milkweed on our property (we had used it all up) but while looking out our dining room window with Mike, I could see a milkweed plant at the neighbor's house across the street. Neighbors who are very nice but who we don't know very well. 

Without delay, I left Mike at the window and ran across the street (in my pajamas) and picked the most beautiful milkweed I had seen so far. Our neighbors are a young family with small children and the mom is a schoolteacher so I assumed that no one was at home. 

When I came back inside, beaming with my handful of Amazon quality milkweed, Mike asks, "Did you see the neighbor? Did you ask if it was okay to pick their milkweed?" 

"No,  they're all at school, no one is home." 

He looks at me curiously and says, "Um, it's Saturday." 

Then he adds, "Don't worry, I'm sure your outfit camouflaged you." 

Horrified, I can barely ask, "Did they see me ransacking their flower beds? We're they watching me through the window?" 

To that he replied, "I don't know, I turned away, I couldn't look." 

As the image of me (in my pajamas) raiding our neighbors flower bed as they looked on sunk in, I hesitantly asked, "Should I call them and explain?" 

"To explain that you only picked their milkweed because you thought they weren't home?" 

We healed my embarrassment with laughter at the whole thing and have no regrets because I do believe that that wonderfully lush milkweed revived our dear caterpillars! 

And no, I have yet to confess or explain myself to the neighbors. 

48 comments :

  1. i love every single word about this story. you guys are amazing. what a beautiful experiment the kids were able to watch. love the neighbor story too. you guys are so special. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keep a look out for our friends Janet, they may be flying your way! xoxo

      Delete
  2. Thank you for sharing this fascinating journey! I can see how attached you would have become to them after such a process.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Such a beautiful story, Catherine. It shows how truly compassionate you are, and the great lengths you will go to, to save those lovely butterflies. Thanks for sharing :)
    Deni

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maybe it is just me or today but this made me cry :)
    They are so wonderful, o beautiful .. and you did it !! well, they did it but you helped :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This process brought upon a lot of tears - tears of sadness and tears of joy.

      Delete
  5. What a funny milkweed-theft story! And what amazing butterflies you managed to help grow up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's a great story. And a great thing you are doing! Monarchs have always held a special place in my heart. When I was a teenager, living in the country, I rode my horse into the woods near my house, and in the stillness of the woods, looked up and saw a large tree completely covered in Monarch butterflies. Not one leaf was visible, it was literally covered with thousands and thousands of Monarchs resting on their journey south. It was truly one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can just imagine what a beautiful sight it was. We've watched the NOVA documentary on Monarchs so have just seen them on the screen or in books clustered together. It is an amazing story - truly a miracle of this wonderful world!

      Delete
  7. I ordered Milkweed seeds one year with the intention of raising Monarchs and I, unfortunately, never found any actual caterpillars to raise. This was post was a lovely reminder to try again next year because I SO want to do this!

    I can also add that, although I have never raised Monarchs, I raise rabbits. There are particular wild plants that rabbits adore--dandelions, plantain, watercress, and, especially, willow leaves. Many, many times I have raided neighbors yards while on my daily jog. I don't imagine anyone cares about the plants I take, since they're considered weeds, but I bet that they all wonder why I'm constantly jogging around the neighborhood with bouquets of weeds!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I did not know this could be done! How amazing you two are. I want to be you when I grow up, but I think I'm older. I just love your commitment to nature and the environment. And I would cry too. You'd be welcome to plunder any milkweed in my yard.
    xo Cassandra E

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOL, that is so perfect .. if my neighbor did that , I would come out to see what she was doing then join her , picking milkweed for her butterflies ... because really, aren't they all of our butterflies.
    You are my hero :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Catherine, thanks for sharing your wonderful experience with the Monarchs. I'm sure your neighbors will love it too.

    I planted some native milkweed here in Northern California and saw a Monarch hovering around it a few weeks ago but no caterpillars. It's starting to get colder here now. I have read that East Coast and Midwest Monarchs need a different milkweed with a specific toxin so yours probably won't come to California. West Coast Monarchs need native milkweed too.

    Thanks for caring so much. What a wonderful experience to share with your children! Thanks for sharing with us too.

    Jane

    Jane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you anonymous. Exactly. There is enough variation in monarchs that they are milkweed specific. Glad this story had the right milkweed. Otherwise, they would have died.

      Great joy, this is a fabulous story with happy ending.

      XOT

      Delete
  11. How interesting. I bet the "dumplings" really enjoyed the whole process. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Catherine,
    I, too, am drawn to the Monarch butterflies! As a gardener, I noticed I was seeing less and less of them in my yard a few summers ago. A forest preserve with a boardwalk through a marsh in Lake Geneva, WI, also had NONE where in summers past, I could find so many different kinds of butterflies. After doing some reading, I learned all about the Monarchs, their journey to and from their overwintering grounds in Mexico, and the causes of their decline. I was so sad! And outraged! To think that the next generation may not even know what was once so common to us...

    I have since planted milkweed in my garden (I already have many of the nectar sources, most attractive to them in my yard are butterfly bush, tall phlox, coneflowers, and verbena bonariensis), and I have also done some teaching to the kids in the Environmental Club at my son's elementary school. We also sold milkweed plants at the school plant sale last spring - they disappeared within a half hour! Just keep spreading the word!

    I love what you have done - watching them grow from caterpillars to butterflies is such an amazing process, and so fun and educational! My three kids may think I'm silly, but hopefully I'm instilling some sort of appreciation (and notice - does anyone look up anymore?) of nature.

    Laura in Naperville, IL

    ReplyDelete
  13. Love this so! But in your defense I'm sure you looked stylish in your pj's even rummaging through the bushes. LOL.
    xoxo
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was in my lavender Damask pj's (two seasons ago) from Target. They have a couple of missing buttons so good thing I threw on the jacket. ; ) xoxo

      Delete
  14. Can't imagine your neighbor, the teacher, would have been anything other than supportive! How wonderful for the children to watch! Especially since we have a happy ending. I was worried where this was going in the middle. I want to do this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it has been wonderful for our children to watch this whole process (minus the thievery) and especially, to play the role of caretakers. Our family will never look at another Monarch butterfly the same.

      Delete
  15. Oh my goodness! Bake something yummy and confess in person with your children in tow! She is a teacher and I'm sure she would love the story but in the meantime, you aren't much more than a weed stealing freak in their eyes since they don't know you. This will be the beginning of a potentially lifelong friendship that your families will laugh about for decades to come!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know that they wouldn't mind. That is probably why I didn't feel compelled to follow up with them. When we do see them next, I will tell them the story and you're right, I think it will be something we laugh about for quite awhile!

      Delete
  16. I love the whole story, especially about raiding the milkweed in your PJs! It is such a pity though that you didn't take that opportunity to meet your neighbours and give the children a chance to be part of the process. It might have passed on the awe and respect for nature and enlisted some willing milkweed helpers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our littles were sound asleep as it was in the wee hours of the morning. And this was the only time that they hadn't helped find and pick the milkweed. It was our morning ritual to go into the yard and bring in the fresh milkweed every morning.

      Delete
    2. I agree! Sharing the butterflies with the neighbor's children may have inspired them to raise monarchs themselves after you have moved on and in to the new house.

      Delete
    3. I'm certain that they've probably raised them, perhaps only if in the classroom. My not contacting them was pure convenience on my part - so that I may tend the the caterpillars without delay. And I've always thought that if they were looking at me from the window, watching me pick milkweed, they would know my motives.

      Delete
  17. I love this post! This gives me hope ❤️
    Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  18. Absolutey beautiful post . . .
    A treasure . . . giving birth . . .
    Monarch . . .
    Stealing milkweed in your pj's . . .
    Loved, loved, loved this . .,.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love this in so many ways...

    "we ended up driving our butterflies about two hours south" is my favorite part.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Do you know about the Monarch tagging. I live in Pacific Grove California and there isa monarch sanctuary here were they track the monarch's with tags and if one is found there is a website where the number can be reported, so eventually it can be tracked from where it started to where it completed its migration. If you are interested in learning more about this process and to know if you would be able to do this with the monarchs you are raising and releasing, I'm sure the website is listed online. Bless you for helping these beautiful animals. Oh, and if the neighbors have little kids, they might appreciate you showing their kids the process as a learning experience and perhaps the kids would even like to help grow more milkweed plants for you and the butterflies in their garden, also another good learning experience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Monarch Watch has a great deal of information on tagging. It is so extraordinary to imagine such delicate little wings flying so far. A true miracle really.

      Delete
  21. I love this post! I planted a lot of milkweed in my Maryland garden this summer, and was rewarded with Monarch butterflies for the first time ever. I was absolutely obsessed with them. When I first found the first caterpillar, I was sure it couldn't possibly be a monarch, so spent many hours trying to figure out what else it might be - but no, it was a monarch! I checked on them hourly, built little leaf tents around them so that birds couldn't see them, and took about 500 pictures of them. The worst thing about having them outdoors is that eventually they just disappear. Apparently they crawl some distance away to build their chrysalis, and they are actually very fast. So, to keep myself from turning into a sobbing mess, I chose to believe that they had crawled away to a nearby tree rather than being eaten by a bird. :) It was a magical experience, and I am going to add a lot more milkweed next year. You, or any other butterfly gardener, would be welcome to pick as much of it as you needed! I wish I could share my pictures - there are some beauties!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Oh, what a great story! It is so beautiful...and funny!

    ReplyDelete
  23. This had me laughing out loud and I had to read it to my husband who was wondering what cracked me up. We are up on a mountain in North Carolina with a lot of conservation land around us. Though we're mostly in the woods, we have milkweed that grows along the drive and at the road, where there's more sun. We have left all the milkweed intact, and I always spread the downy seeds around in the fall, but I have yet to see a monarch butterfly. :-( We do have lots of pipevine swallowtails, though, and we've let the Dutchman's pipe vine grow wild. At the end of summer it was covered in swallowtail caterpillars who ate it up.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Catherine, this post brought tears to my eyes! (And I was laughing out loud at the end)

    I grew up in Carmel, CA, which is next door to Pacific Grove, famous for the monarch migration gathering. And then I relocated to western New York, where our property has several acres of meadows filled with milkweed. When we arrived here ten years ago, we had hundreds on monarchs every summer. So I rather thought monarchs were just everywhere, having never lived anywhere there weren't clouds of them!

    Then I learned about the decline and sure enough, in the past two summers, I saw fewer than half a dozen monarchs on our property in total - so absolutely sad, it breaks my heart. I didn't know you could raise your own and now you've inspired me to do the same for next year. Did you order yours through Monarch Watch? Perhaps you could post a link for interested readers?

    Thank you for the work you are doing on behalf of the monarchs. It's important people learn about how critical it is to plant native species in their gardens to support all of our wildlife, from the tiniest to the largest creatures. As someone above mentioned, if purchasing milkweed to plant, everyone needs to make sure get the right kind for their area. Try to find a local nursery that specializes in native plants.

    Thank you again for all you do to support our precious environment.
    RC at Catbird Farm

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry, the link hadn't gone through so I went back and fixed it. But here it is again: http://www.monarchwatch.org/

      Delete
  25. Loved the Monarch story. I am a preschool teacher, every fall I search for monarch caterpillars on the milkweed that grows around our area. I have been doing this for years and always find at least 4 or 5 that I take to preschool and we watch them grow and change. What a wonderful miracle for the children to observe. We always let them go near our playground and when we see a monarch flying by we wonder if it is the one we watched grow into a beautiful butterfly...at least that is what the children think. I always find that the younger the milkweed the better it is to find the caterpillars. Our success rate for our monarchs is high, we have only lost a couple over the years. We then make beautiful butterflies using giant coffee filters, watercolors and sticks from the forest. Have a wonderful weekend! Mickey

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I think it will be our annual tradition as well! It is hard to see a Monarch and not wonder where it came from.

      Delete
  26. Take her some cookies. Cookies make everything better. We don't see nearly the amount of butterflies as in years gone by and so when a monarch flits by, we get very excited. I would so like to go to the monarch sanctuary in Monterey CA when they come through.
    http://www.cityofpacificgrove.org/visiting/monarch-butterfly-sanctuary

    ReplyDelete
  27. "Due to our New England location, we ended up driving our butterflies about two hours south to where the temperatures were at least five degrees warmer."

    Incredible. Do you have any idea what a gem of a human being you are? You and Mike make me want to be a better person!

    -Flo
    Amelia Island FL

    ReplyDelete
  28. I can totally relate to this story Catherine. I raised Monarchs in our school library a couple of years ago. Finding milkweed was our challenge - I ended up driving out to the edge of the suburbs where I found some growing at the edge of a very busy highway, There were hills (we definitely do not have mountains in South Australia), and a bend in the road, plus huge trucks hurtling past. I do wonder now why I risked my life chasing the blessed milkweed. But I also had extra caterpillars that were on the plant branches I picked. I was nowhere near as clinical as you about it though. I stood branches of milkweed in a large glass vase I have, which provided perfect viewing for the kids. It was late summer here, and they thrived. I ended up hatching 14 of the beauties.It is very hard to find milkweed here, but I have since found out the caterpillars will also eat a plant I commonly know as swan plant. I have some seeds of this plant, given to me by a parent. It grows in their gardens and they were inundated with caterpillars that year. I enjoy your blog very much, this was a surprise post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we drove around our entire valley looking for a good supply of milkweed which was quite often found along the roads, but I'm not sure why that is. I wrote to Monarch Watch a few times with questions - one was asking if the milkweed had to be dripping of "milk' when it was harvested. In other words, was it the milk in the milkweed that was so nourishing for them. I never got an answer but I assumed so. So not only did we have to find the milkweed, but we had to find milkweed which still had plenty of milk running within its leaves. After such an experience, one cannot help but constantly be noticing milkweed - even after the Monarchs have flown!

      Delete
  29. This is a great story and a wonderful thing to do. Whenever we find ourselves in charge of a creature's life and well-being, it is an emotional thing. And something to take seriously. I understand the tears.

    When I was in elementary school in New Jersey, my class visited a butterfly farm. My mom came along as a chaperone. We bought a few different butterfly chrysalises and some praying mantis chrysalises too. I remember how wonderful it was to watch them hatch. There were hundreds of praying mantises. Releasing them was both joyful and sad. I was young, but I remember it well. Your children will remember this experience too. And I suspect it won't be the last time you take part in this raising of monarch butterflies. Isn't it amazing how they can survive such a long journey? Hummingbirds too. I'm in awe of nature and God's creations.
    Claudia

    ReplyDelete
  30. lol...before reading everyone's comments, I have to post, this made me laugh out loud! I am probably the only neighbor that grows milk weed, or let's it grow, because of these butterflies. And I explain why it's important to allow weeds to grow. I love that you did this for the "children" (you included), I am going to need to look into doing that for my granddaughters. Have a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  31. What a wonderful, caring story! Thank you so much for sharing it. In the past month or so we have enjoyed the migration of the Monarch through Texas but alas, I think they have all passed through the area. So glad to hear that someone appreciates their beauty as much as I do!

    ReplyDelete
  32. This was stunning to see! Thank you for sharing your beautiful story.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...