Monarchs on the Move

Sullivan County 4-H students from Acworth visited the County Farm last month with Robin Luther

to help out the Education and Outreach Specialist with 2 citizen science projects connected to monarch butterfly migration.

For Mission Monarch, they identified milkweed patches on the County Farm and Marshall Pond properties, measured the density of milkweed growing and searched for monarchs in these stands. They tallied up how many eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises, and adults they observed in each patch.

For Monarch Tagging, they caught adults monarchs, identified if they were male or female, tagged them with a small round sticker, and released them again. Each round sticker is like a little monarch license plate. If it is found along the way and reported, scientists and conservationists learn more about the route the monarchs take to get to their overwinter grounds in Mexico.

Mission Monarch is one of the many seasonal topics for field trips the Sullivan County Natural Resources Dept. offers free of charge throughout the year for Sullivan County teachers and students.

The "Mission Monarch" program is ongoing until the end of September (or until there are no more monarchs flying through). If you know of a group of 8 or more that would like to come out and participate, get in touch with Dawn Dextraze.