The monarch butterfly...I have written about this incredible butterfly before. Richard and I had hundreds of them fly over us one weekend in October at Arabia Mountain as they were flying on their long journey to Mexico. This week, it has been announced that as many as one BILLION of them have died! I have read that the decline is so severe that there is a petition to ask the Department of the Interior to list the Monarch as "threatened". In response to this, the National Wildlife Federation and The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have promised millions of dollars in grant money to help the Monarch butterfly to re-bound.
What has caused this great decline? Loss of habitat and the rampant use of herbicides are the two most likely causes. You may read more about it just here.
In the 1970's, there was a grass roots effort by a few historic preservation groups to save a beautiful theatre in Atlanta, The Fox Theatre. It was slated to be demolished by BellSouth, a local telephone company. For every concert ticket sold during that time, a small fee was added which went towards this effort. "SAVE THE FOX" was seen on bumper stickers and it became the rallying cry for the efforts of the preservation. I am happy to tell you that this was successful and the Fox Theatre is one of Atlanta's most cherished entertainment venues.
Hopefully, there will be this same kind of enthusiasm for the monarch butterfly.
SAVE THE MONARCH!
I remember that you have written about the Monarch before, Kay. It is very worrying, and of course very sad, that so many of them have died. Hopefully, the campaign will reach many people - and especially those whose decisions really matter!
ReplyDeleteThe Monarch was in grave danger in the 1950's too. Hopefully it is a cyclical thing.
ReplyDeleteMy heart breaks for these beautiful creatures. Seeing a monarch butterfly was always a special bit of magic in my childhood.
ReplyDeleteLove monarchs, we get few of them here, usually viceroys instead. I'd heard the monarch was in decline, didn't realize it was quite this bad. Will keep my eyes open for ways to help.
ReplyDeleteI hope something can be done to save these butterflies.
ReplyDeleteI've grown milkweed here since 1980, mostly for the monarchs. But I notice the decline in numbers. I hope they may be saved. It is so sad to watch such beauty and grace disappear from the world.
ReplyDeleteThis hurts my heart, and i hope that banding together, we can do something about it!
ReplyDeleteWow, Kay! I admire people like you that knock out interesting and varied posts several times a week. This week I'll be lucky if I get one done! I got a kick out of your Super Bowl post. I confess I didn't pick up on the Boston Seattle subtlety in the national anthem. Your comment about Katy Perry and her Golden Idol cracked me up. Her song "Firework" which closed the half time show has to be one of my all time favorites. It has such a powerful message that I played it for my third graders and we danced to it my last year. Here's a link to her video in case you aren't familiar with the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Cadbury's chocolate! That's what I grew up with in Canada. Chocolate bars is so ingrained in my mind that I never realized that Americans called them candy bars! LOL!
I'm excited about the releasee of "Go Set a Watchman." I'm glad that you were able to track down the hymn it reminded you of. I went through a period when I wanted to study classic organ. I was introduced to it by the father of my best friend who was Acadia University's organist and well-known for his talent. He considered the classical pipe organ to be "The Voice of God."
We had a big patch of milkweed in a field next to our school. We studied and hatched butterflies, and I liked to bring in milk pods and have the kids look at them under a microscope. We are killing so many species. I love how you share and speak up for our natural world!
Have some chocolate, Girlfriend! I have a piece everyday! Hugs!
I've written about the Monarch Butterfly many times on my Hebridean in New Zealand blog. It's a truly wonderful creature. I hope that the appeal is successful and that it once more resumes it's extraordinary life cycle.
ReplyDeleteWe call them the Wanderer butterfly down this way. They used to be very prevalent when I was kid (many years ago!), but I've not seen a lot around of late...but that could be because I'm not out and about as much these days in the places the Monarch butterflies are wandering.
ReplyDeleteLovely creature...the butterfly I mean!
ReplyDeleteIt is such a shame to see any animal in danger isn't it. xx
ReplyDeleteSame things happening here with many species of butterflies, birds that feed on them, bees and insects crashing by almost 50 % in some cases since the 1970s. Hopefully they will turn things around before its too late.
ReplyDeleteWe used to see lots and lots of monarchs in Hawaii. The crown flower trees would all be full of caterpillars. Now I rarely see them. It's really sad. I thought I saw some on the other side of the island, but it's really rare now.
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