Monarch racing the clock
For a few years running I had quite a crop of monarch caterpillars hatching in my flower garden thanks to a swamp milkweed (Aesclepias incarnata). There was even a year when 26 individuals were picked...
View ArticleWinter hits monarchs hard
The discovery of the wintering grounds for most of the monarch butterflies in America didn’t take place until 1975. Hard to believe. But it turned out just a handful of remote mountains in Mexico...
View Articleviele schmetterlinge
My buddy is trying his hand at a Rosetta Stone course in German. The above headline translates to many butterflies. Anyone who has left the confines of homes or buildings the past few days cannot help...
View ArticleCurious “pet”
I was somewhat stunned the other day when an old friend of mine relayed to me a situation taking place in his home. (‘old’ in this case refers to how long we’ve known each other–we went to grade school...
View ArticleHe’s still ticking…and licking
Amazingly, Flutter is still hanging in there. My buddy’s outre attempt at harboring a pet monarch butterfly continues successfully. I first spoke of it here when he told me he had “taken in” the...
View ArticleAll a’flutter
Dave and Annie’s interesting, but short-lived “pet” appears to be weathering indoor conditions here in North Dakota with about as much as can be reasonably expected. I say ‘reasonably’ because I have...
View ArticleR.I.P. Flutter
And so it ends. The nearly five-month accidental experiment in the care and feeding of a Monarch butterfly is over. The Monarch is dead, long live the Monarch. It began, as many will recall, in...
View ArticleTime for the bugs
Saturday afternoon I walked a piece of woods south of Fargo with little bird fanfare. Species counts were low and singing was even slow (although it was the afternoon). What did catch my eye, though,...
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