Vernon's Monarch Butterfly Way Station Needs YOU!

Last Fall we harvested milkweed seeds on a property Vernon, VT. Owner David Berrie (of David Berrie Real Estate) has been very kind and supportive of our work to help save the monarch butterfly and we extend our thanks! We planted the milkweed seeds this Spring and many of the plants are now thriving in gardens around town. Now it's time to put them to work, hosting monarch caterpillars as they metamorphose into butterflies.

Vernon: A Gateway Into Vermont

The little village of Vernon, Vermont that houses Vermont Woods Studios is in the very southeastern corner of our state. It's an entry point for monarch butterflies migrating North from their wintering grounds in Mexico. We've written earlier about the plight of the monarch and the fact that it's on the brink of extinction due to the pervasive use of the herbicide RoundUp. But residents of Vernon are not inclined to sit idly by and watch this iconic butterfly disappear.

Team Monarch

Monarch Butterfly Party | Vermont Woods Studios
In June, a group of nature lovers got together on the back deck of Vermont Woods Studios and shared milkweed seeds and plants (milkweed is the monarch's only food source and the use of RoundUp has nearly eliminated it from today's landscape). We are planting milkweed in our gardens and backyards with the goal of providing habitat that will bring monarchs back to Vermont. If you'd like to join us please let me know. I have plenty of milkweed seeds and plants for anyone who would like to plant them.

Foster A Monarch Caterpillar

I also have 20 tiny little monarch caterpillars who are looking for foster parents willing to rear them. Would you like to be a foster parent for a monarch? Many of you will remember Carol Richardson who introduced Vernon's kindergarteners to monarch rearing every Fall for many years. What a wonderful teacher she was! In those days Monarchs were abundant and Carol would bring several caterpillars into the classroom in late August/early September. The kids would watch them transform from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly over the span of a couple weeks.

That was only 15 years ago but now there are no caterpillars to be found. What nature invested 50 million years of evolution into, man has nearly wiped out in less than 2 decades. But there's still hope! At Vermont Woods Studios we connected with Dr. Chip Taylor at the University of Kansas. Dr. Taylor has created MonarchWatch, an organization that's dedicated to bringing the beautiful orange and black butterfly back from the brink of extinction.
Dr Taylor sent us a couple dozen tiny caterpillars to raise in our community. Stop by the old Pine Top Ski area, now Stonehurst at Vermont Woods Studios at 538 Huckle Hill Rd to pick up a couple caterpillars if you'd like to help bring this species back. Follow our work on Facebook and Twitter.
(This is part one of a four part blog series on our Monarch Butterfly Restoration Project)