By Mary Bergin
Split-rail fencing, prairie grass, benches, footpaths: Most people see little else on a half-acre patch of city-owned land in downtown Shell Lake in Washburn County. Mary Ellen Ryall, a master gardener, notices much more. She sees the natural world at work to foster the health and bolster the population of one species: the Monarch butterfly. No other butterfly in the world travels farther for its annual migration, up to 3,000 miles, typically between Canada and Mexico.
The flight literally represents the journey of a lifetime. The winged beauties rarely live more than nine months, and environmental factors threaten that lifespan. “The population appears to be declining and habitat loss is suspected as having a role in the decline,” says Monarch Watch, a nonprofit network devoted to the pretty insect. Global warming also may be a factor.
Although not an endangered species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1983 classified the Monarch’s migration as “an endangered biological phenomenon.” Ann Swengel of Baraboo, a butterfly researcher and surveyor, is among those who have documented the Monarch’s habits and vulnerabilities.
Millions of these butterflies winter in Oyamel fir forests, west of Mexico City, but increased logging threatens their well-being. Fewer trees mean less protection from weather extremes. Throughout the migratory route, pesticides contaminate the butterfly’s water and food – especially milkweed, classified in some areas as a weed that can be eradicated. The milkweed is vital to the Monarch at all stages of its life: the females lay their eggs on the underside of milkwood leaves, the caterpillars eat the plant’s leaves and the adult butterfly feeds on milkweed nectar.
So Ryall and others in Happy Tonics, a conservation group, have put together an outdoor classroom – a Monarch-friendly habitat within a restored prairie in Shell Lake. After getting the city to lift its ban on milkweed, Happy Tonics began selling milkweed seeds so that people could grow their own Monarch habitats. The efforts of the group have earned praise from Citizens for a Scenic Wisconsin. “Local people took what used to be an industrial, railroad area and beautified it,” notes Charley Weeth, CSW executive director. “It was little more than sand and weeds.”
“We have created an environment of sustainability,” Ryall says. Another Monarch habitat is in the works on state-owned property on the south side of Shell Lake. “We see the big picture and this butterfly is teaching us,” she explains. “A great majority of Monarchs are near agricultural areas – poison the land with pesticides, and you poison the Monarchs.” Too much fuss about one creature? Hardly, she says, because of the web of interdependence between species.
“Biodiversity attracts lots of species including deer, ducks and an occasional bear” to the habitat, Ryall explains. “Can you imagine? Right there next to Highway 63."
What attracts Monarch butterflies to a garden?
• Choose a space that gets at least six hours of sunlight.
• Don’t use pesticides or herbicides.
• Provide spots to roost (flat rocks in sunshine) and rest (trees or shrubs, as shelter from predators and weather extremes).
• Plant milkweed. Caterpillars eat the leaves; butterflies thrive on the nectar.
• Also plant Joe-Pye weed, pale purple coneflowers, goldenrod, wild bergamot.
• Provide a source of moisture for the plants and the butterflies.
—Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association
Aflutter with activities
• Butterfly lovers prepare for spring through the annual Winter Environmental Film Festival, which includes showings of In the Company of Wild Butterflies, March 18 in Spooner, and Papalotiz: the Flight of the Monarch Butterfly, March 26 in Shell Lake. happytonics.org, 715.468.2097
• Outdoor butterfly houses – screened structures that contain a rich buffet of plants and nectars – nurture butterflies during the summer. Look for them at Mosquito Hill Nature Center, New London (the house accepts visitors three days a week, July 7 to August 29) and Beaver Creek Reserve, Fall Creek (walk in July 5 to September 6). At season’s end, butterflies return to the wild. mosquitohill.com, 920.779.6433; beavercreekreserve.org, 715.877.2212
• The glass-enclosed, two-story Puelicher Butterfly Wing at the Milwaukee Public Museum provides a secure, tropical, indoor and year-round haven for butterflies, from the Monarch to the exotic Morpho, of South American rainforests. The museum has a permit to accommodate more than 400 butterfly species; up to 50 kinds live here at one time. mpm.edu, 888.700.9069
• The Southern Wisconsin Butterfly Association heads to swamps, prairies and riverbanks for spring and summer field trips. Most occur from mid June to mid July; locations include Cherokee Marsh, Dane County (June 19), Schurch-Thomson Prairie, Iowa County (July 10) and Sandhill Wildlife Area, Wood County (July 11). naba.org/chapters/nabawba
• At least a dozen exotic and domestic species take flight during Blooming Butterflies, July 14 to August 8 at Bolz Conservatory in Madison’s Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Accompanying this annual fluttering exhibit is an extensive collection of mounted butterflies from throughout the world. olbrich.org
• Butterflies are counted at about 15 Wisconsin locations in early July as part of a North American Butterfly Association project, similar in spirit to the National Audubon Society’s annual Christmas bird count. naba.org
Mary Bergin is a freelance writer in Madison.