r/MadeMeSmile • u/broccolista • 8h ago
ANIMALS Monarch butterflies ready to take flight
Five weeks ago they were just tiny eggs that were laid in my garden.
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u/RavensQuoth 7h ago
Beautiful.
I just heard yesterday on StarTalk that the Monarch Butterfly population has decreased by 90% since the 70s, due to human invasions/climate change.
Then it occurred to me how I used to always see them around as a kid, but haven’t seen ANY for the past many years.
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u/broccolista 7h ago
Yes. It is crazy how many obstacles there are in their survival. So many predators. Pesticides. Diseases. It’s crazy. I think their chances of survival are only 1-5%, if I’m not mistaken.
Just like you, I noticed how I have not seen Monarchs in the same quantities I did as a child. I planted two Milkweed plants several years ago, but never saw any caterpillars.
This year I decided to go crazy, and planted around 30 Milkweed plants. I’ve been blown away by the results. By the end of September, I will have released 100+ Monarchs! Who would have guessed that if you plant lots of Milkweed, they will find you!🐛🦋
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u/Own_Ad6901 7h ago
Don’t take them off the milkweed and leave them outside! You’re doing more harm than good.
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u/PennieTheFold 2h ago
It’s been an odd little wish of mine for a while now to hatch a monarch. We have exactly one lone stalk of milkweed that comes up each year at the back corner of our garage. So not much of a target for a monarch to find when it’s in an egg-laying mood. I scan it each season hoping to find a cat but never any luck.
UNTILLLLL last Sunday: I found one! I couldn’t believe it. One small but chunky caterpillar. It’s getting late in the season where I live, so I brought it indoors in a little terrarium that I already had. Grabbed my garden clippers and dragged my husband out so he could drive while I scanned the roadside for milkweed cuttings to feed it.
That fat little caterpillar munched away for a few days on bootleg milkweed, and to my delight, pupated at noon on Thursday while we watched it. Nature is something.
And now we wait.
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u/GrayMech 5h ago
They're so pretty! It's a dream of mine to have a butterfly land on me or my hand one day
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u/Own_Ad6901 7h ago
Captive breeding monarchs harms them! Don’t interfere with nature you’re doing more harm than good. Monarchs need to be outside experiencing all of the elements and weather in order to complete their migration and only the fittest are meant to survive. Don’t captive breed!
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u/broccolista 1h ago
I don’t breed them.
If you saw all the dead caterpillars out in the yard, you’d realize that these few eggs I raised inside enclosures were just given a chance they wouldn’t have otherwise had, being attacked by predators.
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