How to Create a Monarch and Pollinator Habitat

 

Declining Populations of Monarchs, Bees and Pollinators

 If you did not already know, our monarch as well as pollinator populations are in huge decline. One of the biggest culprits is the loss of habitat. Modern farming and use of glyphosate on farms throughout the corn belt has removed a significant amount of milkweed. Milkweed is the only plant the monarch caterpillar will feed on. Add to that the loss of winter habitat in Mexico and loss of habitat due to drought along their 3,000 mile migration route from Mexico to the US and the reasons for the decline are apparent. Populations of beneficial bees and other pollinators are in decline too.

Bumble bee and monarch on liatris scariosa

 

 

 

Why They Matter 

 Did you know that up to 1/3 of our fresh fruits and vegetables are pollinated by insects?

Monarch and bumble bee on coneflower

 

 

What Can We Do?

 There are things we can do to reverse the downward trends in monarchs, bees and other pollinators. One is to create more habitat in our yards, parks and other open spaces. Our customary lawns are an environmentally awkward convenience, and we can do so much more for our wildlife if we convert grass to native species. Our lawns require a tremendous amount of energy for lawn mowing equipment as well as a lot of water, fertilizer and pesticides to maintain.  Much of the fertilizers and pesticides that we add to our grass ends up in lakes and streams which promotes algal blooms and degrades water quality.  Lawns are time and energy consuming and if there is anything I have learned is that I have better things to do with my time than mowing a lawn over and over again.

Monarch on liatris scariosa

Northern Blazing Star, Liatris scariosa var. nieuwlandii

How I did it

Several years ago I began to convert my yard into a habitat area for monarchs as well as pollinators. This area is now utilized by hundreds if not thousands of monarchs, bees and other pollinators. I have even noticed an increase in bird activity such as hummingbirds attracted by the flowers and other birds attracted to the bugs. I have not noticed an increase in nuisance insects such as mosquitoes. Half of my front yard is now a Certified Monarch Waystation. This did come about in part by accident. I had planted tickseed coreopsis in part of my yard and allowed the plant to go to seed in the fall. The seeds then spread to another sunny part of the yard and expanded the plant. Then the common milkweed started to appear and I mowed around it. Lo and behold the monarchs started to appear too. So I decided to go all-in on enhancing the habitat. I should add too that grass never did really well in my yard so competition for the added native plants was minimal. While milkweed is crucial for caterpillars,

Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea

nectar producing plants are necessary for monarch butterflies and pollinators. So, a little research, added to my knowledge of native plants lead me to a native plant nursery where I stocked up on liatris (blazing star), black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower, joe pye weed, butterfly milkweed and other assorted native flowers.  Good information is available on suitable plants for monarchs as well as information on monarchs and the Certified Monarch Waystation program at www.monarchwatch.org

The Beat Goes On

I keep adding more and more native plants to the habitat area and the monarchs continue to visit my yard, especially during the fall migration as they stop to refuel on their way south. Many monarch caterpillars, butterflies and lots of bees appear during the summer months. As my place is in northern Michigan, the winter-dormant season means the habitat area does not have the color and attractiveness of the summer when the area looks like a tall grass prairie. I do put up a sign that the yard is for monarchs and do maintain part of the yard in grass so that it is not appear to be an unkempt yard. Our summers also tend to be dry and the soil is quite sandy so supplemental watering is necessary during very dry periods. 

Happiness

This project has turned out to be a source of pride and joy in knowing that I have made a difference for monarchs as well as many pollinators.  I might add too that the flowers are quite beautiful in the middle of the summer into the early fall.

 Please Don't Feed the Bears

 

    If you did not catch my Facebook post about my recent encounter with a young male bear in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park several weeks ago. Here it is. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftomhaxbyphotography%2Fposts%2F1363380634164853&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="593" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

While my account made light of my predicament with the bear I realized that the bear's behavior was unusual. Bears do not normally approach people as this one did. Unfortunately, this behavior was probably due to the bear associating people with food. Somebody or several people have fed that bear and he was looking for another hand out. Hopefully enough people will resist his begging for food and he will finally get discouraged and cease to see people as a source of a handout. More likely, the bear will continue to aggressively approach people and will be reported to the NPS. They will have no choice but to have the bear put down. I know that this will not reach those who fed the bear, and thus, sentenced it for death. However, if I ever see someone feeding a bear I will take their pictures and report them to the authorities. I encourage others to do the same. Bears are beautiful and many people enjoy seeing and watching them, but they are wild animals. It is not their fault that they are only responding to a need for food, especially in the spring when they emerge from their winter dens hungry. 

 

I also should not have gotten that close to the bear for a photo, but recognize that the bear approached me and that I drove past it in very close proximity before the encounter outside of my vehicle. Lesson learned and I hope others will cease feeding bears.