Support Team Monarch in Their Efforts to Save the Monarchs!
Support Team Monarch in their efforts to save the Monarch butterflies. In a 4-H class in the Katie's Krops Outdoor Classroom, the kids learned that the Monarch butterflies were an endangered species. They wanted to do everything they could to save this beautiful keystone species, and thus Team Monarch and Monarch Meadows was born. Since its inception, Team Monarch has released 150 Monarch butterflies! Learn more about their efforts in their own words below.
What: We are on a mission to help Monarch butterflies. We’re raising money to build a butterfly house at Katie’s Krops. They will need milkweed plants, flowers for nectar, and protection from predators while they grow. – Trula, age 7, and Mazie, age 4
Why: The monarch butterflies are an endangered species. They will go extinct without our help. Monarch butterflies are beautiful and help pollinate plants so that we can have flowers to look at and food to eat. – Reese, 8 and Carley, 6
How: At Katie’s Krops, we are working together as a small group to make big changes! We are planting milkweed because this is the monarch caterpillars’ only food source. It’s important that they have enough! We are also planting flowers to help the monarch butterflies get nectar so they can get the energy they need to travel very long distances, like when they migrate to faraway places like Mexico. We’re planting at our houses, at Katie’s Krops flagship garden and we also received special permission to plant at our local county park! We want everything to be in place for when they are ready to lay eggs and travel.
The monarch species is running low and are on the endangered species list. Please come and help us! Thank you for joining Katie’s Krops on our mission to save the monarchs! We love the monarchs! – Lily, age 7
When: We expect the monarchs in our area in spring, and they leave in the fall. We saw the most last year in the summer. They start laying their eggs when the butterflies are a few days old. The new generation may continue further north, and then start returning in the fall – heading towards Mexico. – JD – age 7
Why: It’s important to get everything in place before the Monarchs arrive to our area because they will be looking for a place to lay their eggs. Monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweed so we will need plenty of milkweed before the Monarchs arrive. It is also important to have a butterfly house in place so that the caterpillars have a safe place to live. – Cameron age 8, Emmy age 6
Who: A group of kids are working together, as a team, to raise money for a butterfly house. We want to create a safe place to protect monarch butterflies. They’re close to extinction and we want to help them migrate to Mexico and survive.” —Jake, 8 years old.
We are proud to share that the butterfly house was designed and built by Kevin Arnold, Clemson University Graduate Architecture Student!