Monarch Butterflies Are Back in Pacific Grove

KSBW ^ | Brisa Colón

[nickcarraway]

Monarch butterflies are back in Pacific Grove for the winter. Sunday, people from all walks of life came to witness the beautiful butterflies.

"Pacific Grove calls itself Butterfly Town, USA,” says Natalie Johnston with the Pacific Grove National History Museum.

This year is seen as a symbol of perseverance, especially how they were able to rebound from having zero of them back in 2020. Last year, they saw about 13,000 monarchs, and this year the current number sits at 11,171.

"For four generations, they had good breeding conditions, and with good breeding conditions, they can produce remarkable number of butterflies,” says Paul Meredith, Monarch Sanctuary Docent and former entomologist.

Experts say this second year of positive trends makes them hopeful for the future.

"Which is lovely because monarchs have been experiencing a steep decline over the past decades with a record low,” Johnston said.

Butterflies stay off the coast for the entire winter and migrate back and forth from northern states like Oregon and Washington.

Nevada County man wonders if meteorite destroyed his house'Heard a big bang': Northern California man wonders if meteorite destroyed his house Experts counted each one by hand to keep track of the numbers.

"We learned how they count them, how they all just take estimates of one little cluster,” says Katy, Central Coast local.

But even despite their beautiful orange color, the creatures are poisonous.

"Compress the heart on any creature that has a heart if it eats it. Toxic. Young birds learn to leave them alone. They are colorful. In nature, what does color mean? Danger. Don't eat me,” Meredith said.

Meredith said we have a responsibility as a community to keep the monarchs alive.

"We are the problem. Habitat destruction. Conversation of land from good habitat to bad habitat called new houses it's ag policy,” Meredith said.

Experts say they expect this year's numbers to either meet or surpass last year's numbers.

[Hot Tabasco]

A friend has a small yard and his wife has a small patch of milkweeds. I don't know how the monarchs find their yard but she harvests the eggs they lay on the milkweeds and raises them in an insect cage I built for her.

I think she raised at least 60 this summer and released them. Same for last year.

[Verginius Rufus]

The eighth line starts:

Nevada County man wonders if meteorite destroyed his house...

(All the rest is about the butterflies.)

[nickcarraway]

Oh that must have been a link to a different article I think I posted a different version of that somewhere.