We recently received this photo for the August readers’ photo gallery, along with this explanation from Bonnie Honaberger: “I found this chrysalis on the ground, thus the straight pin.” Happily, the chrysalis was still viable, and thanks to Bonnie’s intervention, it continued to develop and produce a healthy monarch butterfly.
People like Bonnie make the world a little brighter - or at least more bright orange, with jaunty black wing veins. Dawn Dextraze, a speaker at this fall’s Northern Woodlands Conference, is another monarch hero; over the past three years, she has raised over 200 of the butterflies. Her presentation will share insights on how the practice of caring for wild creatures, can help people – especially children – learn to cherish nature as a whole.
You can learn more about Dawn’s presentation here. Also included below are two photos that arrived just past this month’s gallery deadline, but are too good not to share – they’re courtesy of Barbara Mackey, whose graceful writing can be found in our archive, and whose seasonal activities pages – appropriate for kids of all ages – appear in our most recent Outside Story book compilation.
As Barbara noted when she submitted these photos, this year’s butterfly production season is drawing to a close. The milkweed’s starting to yellow, and the nights are getting chilly. Adult monarchs that emerge now, will be part of this year’s migration generation.
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