Gary, owner of The Fishman Pet Center in Springfield Illinois, held his annual Monarch Butterfly release last Saturday. Gary was kind enough to share the process and progression of his butterfly project with me over the past several months. I got to witness them as caterpillars. I was lucky I happened to be around the day they started forming into chrysalis. I basically got to watch these little creatures up close and personal and as they flew away to begin their migration for the winter.
Monarch butterflies travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles or more from the United States and Canada to central Mexican forests. In the U.S., Monarchs need places to reproduce and feed. However, herbicide use is decreasing the availability of their primary food source, the milkweed plant. Gary releases them in hopes to help preserve the species from going extinct. As of 2016, the Monarchs are to be listed on the Endangered Species list.
Regards,
Sonja
