CREATING BUTTERFLY HABITAT: A NOVEL WAY TO EXECUTE ON YOUR WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT PLAN

By Monika Maeckle, Plateau client

When my husband and I first bought our property on the Llano River back in 2000, I had no idea we were on the Monarch butterfly migration flyway. Soon after signing the papers, we started camping at the top of our hill and exploring our stretch of the Llano.

It wasn't until five years later that we began to notice Monarch butterflies each spring and fall. I say "we didn't notice" because we weren't paying attention. They were there, we just didn't see them because we weren't looking.

That all changed in 2005. One fall afternoon my friend Jenny Singleton invited us to "come tag Monarchs" at her family's place on the San Saba River outside Menard. We didn't know what to expect, but even now the memories of that delightful day make me smile.

Over on the San Saba, Dallas natives Jenny and husband Matt play host to thousands of Monarch butterflies roosting in their pecan trees every mid-October as they migrate through Texas to their winter roosts in the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico. Jenny, an avid naturalist and teacher, organizes "tagging weekends" whereby groups of visiting friends help her net and tag the migrating Monarchs, later submitting the data to Monarch Watch, which oversees the citizen scientist program from the University of Kansas, Lawrence.

That day in 2005 my husband and I trotted along the Sabinal River bottom, long handled nets reaching into the pecans, where colorful clumps of Monarchs were resting on their journey south. After netting the Monarchs we carefully transferred them to ice chests to await the "tag team," which recorded their sex and then affixed a tiny weightless, numbered tag on to the discal cell of each butterfly's wing.

Our first experience reaching into the nets alive with Monarchs to gently extract them one at a time for tagging left us hooked. The Monarch is one of nature's most beautiful and noble creatures, remarkable for its migratory endurance.

That weekend changed our approach to wildlife management. Before, we were focused on deer, turkey, pigs, birds and fish. Now, creating butterfly habitat tops our list of wildlife management responsibilities.

How does one create a butterfly habitat on your property?

The exercise entails increasing the wildflower population, especially butterfly-friendly nectar and host plants. Depending on your property, it might mean simply providing more sun to areas already occupied by wildflowers.

We recently created a "riverwalk" on the banks of the Llano which resulted in more Goldenrod and Frostweed-attractive Fall nectar sources for butterflies. The task involved simply clearing a trail through the pervasive Poverty Weed that dominated our riverbanks.

For the last three years, we've thrown seedballs packed with Antelope Horn, Cowpen Daisy, and Jimsonweed seeds-host plants to Monarch butterflies, the Bordered Patch and the dramatic Sphinx Moth, respectively--onto recently cleared areas of our property. With the historic drought, results have been mixed, tied completely to the weather.

But we remain hopeful as recent rains drench the ranch. Now is prime time for planting wildflowers: plant them and butterflies will come. Talk to your Plateau consultant to find out what might work for your property.

Monika Maeckle, a principal of the Arsenal Group, a communications consultancy, is a Master Gardener, avid butterfly evangelist and caterpillar wrangler. She has tagged more than 1,500 Monarch butterflies and had 22 recovered in Michoacan. She writes about butterflies and their life cycle at www.texasbutterflyranch.com. You can find her on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @butterflybeat. Email butterfly questions to Monika at butterflybeat@gmail.com.