As of 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed monarch butterflies of least concern. However, according to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the monarch population has declined by approximately 90% since the 1990s.
NWF recommends that the best way to help monarchs is by restoring their natural habitat by planting native milkweeds and nectar plants, eliminating pesticides, and encouraging others to adopt these practices. I got this information HERE, and there's much more to learn about the monarchs on that site.
Years ago in the autumn, I was walking in the pasture, the part of it we call "the point", simply because if you look to the north, you can see across the Missouri River a long way, or you can look closer to home and farmers planting and harvesting corn and soybeans in the river bottom. I was surprised to see what seemed to be hundreds of Monarch butterflies. Never before or since have I seen so many in one spot. I remember writing a now forgotten poem about that experience. It felt like a miracle at the time. Now I always notice and acknowledge those beautiful creatures.
Sorry about the wind covering my voice.
You can find several groups online that will send you free seeds. This is one of them.
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On another note, I found a book I know I'm going to love: First Family Detail, by Ronald Kessler. I once read another of his books, In the President's Secret Service. You get to see a lot of dirty little details in the lives of various past presidents and their families in his books, because the people of the Secret Service has seen it all. Of course, some of them may lie for all I know; so there's that to think about.
I would think that the SS would have to sign some kind of Non-Disclosure agreement. I love butterflies and have been seeing quite a few Monarchs but not in a big group like that.
ReplyDeleteMe too, but they don't use names most of the time, so maybe that's how they get around it. I do know none of them are currently in the Secret Service.
DeleteBook borrowed with Libby. Will start reading after I finish making antipasto salad and load dishwasher. Thank you for your recommendations Donna.👍☘️
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. I get most of my books from things I see in blogs I read, but I discovered this author on my own.
DeleteI recall you having a recipe for old fashioned pimento cheese dip. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteI'm attempting to read blogs again via my cell phone. When I lived in San Angelo, TX every October thousands of Monarch butterflies would infiltrate the entire city. It was magical. They were always attracted to the sunflowers in my yard. I took lots of videos of them - but they are now old and obsolete.
ReplyDeleteI’d plant these if I had a place to do it. My flower garden fixer isn’t with me anymore. Slowly I have fewer and fewer blooms in my life but I’m still pushing on.
ReplyDelete