Mountain of butterflys

[Dtackett]

Every year the monarch butterfly makes a trip from Canada to Mexico. the trip is actually so long that no single generation makes it. the trip is longer than their lifespan so they lay eggs in the same places before their life is over so the next generation can complete the trip. the do this twice a year. it took 41 years and thousands of volunteers to find the final stop for these beautiful creatures. because they would lose track during the migration as the creatures would stop to spawn and suddenly disappear. here are some pics from their final destination in the Sierra Madre Mountains, in eastern Mexico.



now how awesome would that be to see.

 

[dewboy1127]

This is awsome ...and think your life putpose is so next man can make it to the goal lol

 

[Dtackett]

This is awsome ...and think your life putpose is so next man can make it to the goal lol

that's why I goto work isn't it? so the next man can get to the goal of being rich?

 

[dewboy1127]

Oh buddy tell me about it ...already dreading monday lol

 

[human]

One of my friends shared some of his photos of the Monarchs down there, he's an entomologist, they cover the trees so thick you can't see any leaves, it absolutely amazing. Sad thing is, the Monarch's population is slowly dwindling due to pesticides and lack of their only food plant the Milkweed.

 

[Dtackett]

One of my friends shared some of his photos of the Monarchs down there, he's an entomologist, they cover the trees so thick you can't see any leaves, it absolutely amazing. Sad thing is, the Monarch's population is slowly dwindling due to pesticides and lack of their only food plant the Milkweed.

yeah ive actually planted quite a bit of that around my house in the hopes of bringing them in.

 

[human]

yeah ive actually planted quite a bit of that around my house in the hopes of bringing them in.

I remember when I was younger it grew along just about every road and highway, nowadays they mow then spray plant killer so it's just dead plants. I grow a patch of Milkweed in my yard that's 8'×12' and collect caterpillars along the road and put them on my plants, that way I know they'll have a chance to mature. It seems around here at least that they tend to mow the Milkweed down when the caterpillars are in their 3rd instar.

 

[Dtackett]

ive got a pretty large piece of property and currently ive got milkweed done in a 4'x60' patch running alongside my driveway. planted spearmint next to my deck to push wasps and hornets away, now im thinking I might build a raised garden in front of my sun room and plant it all along that which would be 2'x25'. would make everything really pretty while theyre around. always having butterflies around my windows.

 

[human]

Awesome! The spearmint will help keep mice away also. I wish I could plant more, but my yard is pretty much a swamp and Swamp Milkweed didn't do well at all, I might have 5 plants that survived from the 50 I started with.

 

[urbaneks]

Thanks for posting this! Love the photos

 

[Dtackett]

Awesome! The spearmint will help keep mice away also. I wish I could plant more, but my yard is pretty much a swamp and Swamp Milkweed didn't do well at all, I might have 5 plants that survived from the 50 I started with.

raise your beds. doesn't need to be much. couple yard timbers make a huge difference. last raised beds I built only cost me about 30 bucks and they were nice.

 

[human]

raise your beds. doesn't need to be much. couple yard timbers make a huge difference. last raised beds I built only cost me about 30 bucks and they were nice.

I'll have to do that this spring, of course with this lack of snow right now I could probably do it now. It's going to be a buggy year if it doesn't stay cold here. My yard is pretty acidic due to my property being surrounded by pine and fur trees so I don't think that is the issue, but right now my field which is only an acre has at least 2" of water and you sink another 3" when you walk through it. Good thing my dog hates his feet wet or I'd have one muddy dog everyday.

 

[Dtackett]

I'll have to do that this spring, of course with this lack of snow right now I could probably do it now. It's going to be a buggy year if it doesn't stay cold here. My yard is pretty acidic due to my property being surrounded by pine and fur trees so I don't think that is the issue, but right now my field which is only an acre has at least 2" of water and you sink another 3" when you walk through it. Good thing my dog hates his feet wet or I'd have one muddy dog everyday.

yeah im not gonna have fun this year if it doesn't get really cold really fast... this is my place. nothing but fields around and theyre all flooded (these are old pics)

 

[human]

yeah im not gonna have fun this year if it doesn't get really cold really fast... this is my place. nothing but fields around and theyre all flooded (these are old pics)

Octoberfest good choice lol. This winter has been terrible, but I have a feeling we won't get much for colder temps, if so they won't last more than a week before it warms back up. I'm already seeing birds here that usually don't migrate back until March or early April. I believe they know something we don't.

 

[Dtackett]

its difficult to say. I don't foresee us having a crazy winter but I don't see it being as light as it was in I think 2011 or 2012, I don't remember which year it was but we basically got a dusting and a little ice lol