Ryall, M. E. (10 October 2007). Monarch butterfly habitat news. Washburn County Register, p. 25.

Monarch Butterfly Habitat News

By Mary Ellen Ryall

SHELL LAKE - On September 27, Dan Hubin and Dave Peterson met Sally Peterson and Mary Ellen Ryall at the Monarch Butterfly Habitat. Hubin and Peterson tilled site one, which is located near Kyle Schaffer's building and property. To accomplish the task, an ATV was used to pull a fork like instrument behind it. The ground was tilled approximately 2" deep, just enough to open up the topsoil for seed planting.

Brent Edlin, Land and Water Conservation Development, suggested that it be a shallow till. The soil is sand and the topsoil is fragile. According to Edlin and Jim Riemer from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, deep tilling would do more harm than good. Site two and three does not need tilling. The ground in these areas already has some native grasses and forbs growing. The plan is to plant seed throughout the habitat this fall.

On October 7, common milkweed seed was disbursed in site one. I noticed a male monarch butterfly sipping nectar from bread-and-eggs, toadflax (alien) flowers on Sunday morning in site two. Three flitting, small yellow sulphur butterflies were also observed. A few grasshoppers seemed to enjoy hiding among the native grasses also. A few weeks ago, native forb (flower) seed was gathered from the Shoreline Restoration Project by Shell Lake beach and scattered in a small portion of site two.

Happy Tonics monarch seed distribution project meets at the Public Library's UFO Club on Saturday, October 13, from 10 AM to 12 NOON. If you would like to help transplant some runners from the Shoreline Restoration Project to the habitat on the 13th, please call Mary Ellen at 468-2097. Stay tuned for future developments.