Date: 09/08/2010

Number: 1

2010 has been a highlight year for some NW WI species to make an impressive comeback after what I sadly observed to be steadily plummeting-to-record-low populations over the past five years in this area. This summer has been an especially perfect one evidently,to grow Monarchs!(also to restore our toad, bullfrog, tree frog, and bird populations!)

Odd,the season started so slowly. I'd only seen ONE Monarch Butterfly in a thirty mile radius by late June. Although we had the healthiest milkweed crop in 8 years, no Monarchs to be seen fluttering around the usual places. Eventually out of habit, I started inspecting leaves for eggs or larvae. To my surprise I found nearly every milkweed plant was 'hosting' 3-4 cats and as many eggs. I still don't know 'who' deposited all the eggs nor when. But by late July I was deep into raising too-many-to-count caterpillars. Big,fat,greedy cats. It became comical to observe how huge they became. As though they were living,magnified images of the 'real' creature. Their leaf munching was audible.
A stream of high80-mid90's temperatures with humidity about the same was intolerable for me but perfect Butterfly weather. Hot, sunny days,very humid, rained nearly every or every other night as though in the tropics. And the caterpillars danced to my singing and ate and pooped and ate and pooped and grew and grew. Slowly used their hydraulic-power Their hydraulically-powered slow ambling up and down the milkweed was so visible at this size. Eventually their docile mood would change to restlessness, obsessive wandering and craning heads upward. Until each big caterpillar finally appeared to have found the perfect spot to position themselves for a miracleto take place. They transformed My observation time: I was watching for ___ hours and ___ minutes.

eau claire, WI

Latitude: 44.8 Longitude: -91.5

Observed by: cynthia
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