Helping the Monarchs

I was thrilled to find the five monarch caterpillars on milkweed plants in my garden. The caterpillars are in the second stage in the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. These caterpillars hatched from eggs laid on the milkweed leaves by the adult butterfly. These caterpillars will eat for three or five days before spinning a silk pod and turning into a chrysalis. Then after two weeks, the adult butterfly emerges.

The monarch butterfly has recently been designated as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Populations are declining due to habitat loss, climate...