Summer 2017 Monarch Diary

A year of experience behind me, I was ready to make Summer of 2017 a banner year.

The first caterpillars appeared in early June. I raised 7, then took them to our church daycare center when my husband, Doug, and I went to North Carolina on July 4th.

All seven hatched. Two were males. We are not sure what sex the other five were.

“That's the thing about dedicating yourself to raising Monarch Butterflies. It's hard to get away for a vacation...”

Then, disaster struck. This time it was in the form of neighbors spraying their yards commercially with herbicides and pesticides. I lost eight caterpillars to the green death, which is the result of the poisons on the leaves and in the plant. The systemic poisons are the worst, because I can't wash them off the leaves.

As the summer went on, it was a mix of success and failure

It's my observation that after mid-July, the mortality rate increases. The early summer caterpillars are stronger and healthier. Yet, it is the late summer caterpillars that become the Monarch Butterfly migrators.

In 2017, I raised 39 caterpillars, released 23 healthy butterflies, lost 13 to pesticides and black death, and had three crippled butterflies.

2017 Monarch Diary.docx

Download DOCX • 590KB