You remember Tinkerbell from Peter Pan, right? You probably clapped to save her!
Monarch butterflies are magical. (Tweet this) They’re often the first butterfly every child notices. They seem like bits of stained glass in the air around us, as if they were nature’s church windows. They’re visitations from a spirit world. We endow them with our own personal significance.
Monarchs are miracles of engineering, flying thousands of miles in migration to Mexico and Southern California. They feed almost exclusively on milkweed — and that sap is poisonous to other creatures. The monarchs’ bright orange and yellow colors are actually a warning to their predators, lizards, birds and frogs: I’m poisonous. Stay away.
But our monarchs are threatened: by the destruction of their habitat, including the mowing of fields of milkweed. By the use of herbicides — like Roundup, that contains glyphosate that kills weeds — and pesticides, like the “neonics” that are also harming bees and other pollinators. By the logging that destroys their winter roosts. By climate change, which alters weather patterns in summer and winter.
Governors across the country can make a difference — state by state, they can help restore milkweed habitat for monarchs to feed on as they migrate.
You can have your child do a drawing of a monarch too, and send it to your governor. Imagine, if every school got involved in helping to save the monarchs. How powerful that would be!
So CLICK! And help save the monarchs.