JOURNEY OF THE
MONARCH BUTTERFLY
from NOVA
THE STRANGEST MIGRATION IN THE WORLD.
FROM PARTS OF SOUTHERN CANADA AND PARTS OF NORTHERN USA , TO MEXICO.
STARTING FROM A TINY CATERPILLAR TO A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY, THAT WILL FLY THOUSANDS OF MILES AND NAVIGATE UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE IN NATURE.
THIS BUTTERFLY HAS NEVER TAKEN A LONG JOURNEY BEFORE; TO A PLACE THEY’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE; TO A SPOT IN THE MEXICAN MOUNTAINS, ARRIVING EXACTLY THE SAME TIME EACH YEAR.
IT IS UNIQUE - NOTHING LIKE IT!
IN AUGUST JUST NORTH OF LAKE HURON A MIRACLE OF NATURE IS ABOUT TO UNFOLD.
A TINY CATERPILLAR IS ABOUT TO BECOME A MONARCH BUTTERFLY.
IN ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE WORLD, THIS CATERPILLAR WILL SHED ITS SKIN 4 TIMES.
THE 5TH TIME THE CATERPILLAR DISAPPEARS.
IT IS TRANSFORMED INSIDE A CHRYSALIS IN WHICH A COMPLETE NEW CREATURE IS MADE.
AFTER ABOUT 10 DAYS IN THE CHRYSALIS THE NEW CREATURE IS COMPLETE.
ALL TRASES OF THE CATERPILLAR ARE GONE. AND IN ITS PLACE IS A BUTTERFLY WITH 4 DELICATE WINGS.
BUT THE NEW MONARCH BUTTERFLY MUST WAIT A FEW HOURS FOR ITS WINGS TO HARDEN—— THEN IT CAN FLY.
THIS PARTICULAR MONARCH BUTTERFLY IS SPECIAL!
EVERY YEAR A MILLION OR MORE OF THEM BEGIN AN ASTONISHING MIGRATION.
COMING FROM SOUTHERN CANADA AND NORTH-EAST USA, EACH BUTTERFLY WILL TRAVEL ABOUT 2,000 MILES ARRIVING TWO MONTHS LATER IN MEXICO.
Their trip is a carefully planned migration that started 3 generations back, when a group of monarchs left Mexico at the end of winter. They flew north to the Gulf States, mated and died. The next generation flew to the Northern States [central to east] - mated and died, only living about a month.
Their offspring - 3rd generation completed the last leg to Canada, mated and died, living also only about a month.
But the 4th generation will live about 9 months - flying back to Mexico, one epic trip.
It’s an amazing cycle that so far alludes explanation.
The amazement starts immediately for no one knows what triggers the exodus from Canada.
The new butterfly starts on a long journey they’ve never done before, to a place they’ve never seen before.
They are following something we just don’t know how they do it. It’s an incredible journey.
A Monarch’s wings span is just under 4 inches; and they weigh less than a 1/5 of an ounce.
How they survive their marathon journey is another mystery.
They only fly when conditions are perfect.
If it’s too cold they get sluggish and can’t flap their wings.
It it’s too hot they stop flying so they don’t get over heated.
They must also stop often for nectar and water. But every time they land their can be enemies lurking—— cats, spider webs, bad weather, thunder storms.
If it survives it must fly 50 miles a day to get to Mexico.
The effort is remarkable for a creature so small and with fragile wings.
Scientists say to travel so far there are simply a bad design.
[God laughs at them, for what seems impossible to man is possible to God - Keith Hunt]
They have to do much gliding.
[So there’s the answer—— light and 4 wings made for gliding - Keith Hunt]
Just days in to their long flight we have the Great Lakes—— huge body of water, and changing wings, they can’t see across them.
They use their sense of wind to carry them across. They may catch a ride on a boat, rest and wait for the wind to change.
Their destination is 60 square miles, 10,000 feet up in Mexico.
THE LOCAL PEOPLE have lived here for hundreds of years, they believe the monarchs represent the spirits of their ancestors, and the arrival of the Butterflies begins a celebration— they call “day of the dead.”
The Butterflies fly through the town, into homes, and the people until recently did not know they came from faraway Canada.
It was not until 1975 that the people found out about their remarkable journey. Butterflies tagged in Canada were found spending the winter in this ares of Mexico.
SITES
There are 12 specific sites in these mountains where they come to.
This is their only destination in the world. It’s a perfect place for them because of the unique climate.
The forests of trees is shade from the heat of the sun; protection from rain; and the heat from the ranks of the trees give off heat when it’s cold, to the million of more monarchs.
The Monarch Butterfly lives in other part of the world, but the Monarchs of south Canada and North USA, only travel such a distance to miss death in a cold winter.
But how they navigate is an unsolved mystery. There are theories but they are just theories.
Science has discovered things in their brain that regulates their internal clock that helps keep them on course.
At the University of Kansas— Chip Taylor studies the forces at work in their migration.
In 1992 Taylor started a project called Monarch Watch. Children and adults tag them; it doers not hurt or hinder their flight; the tag shows their flight path and even their speed.
Taylor says, “We took them to Washington, D.C. and at first they behaved as still in Kansas. They started to fly direct south. But within a few days changed course to South-West. They ended up in the right place in Mexico.”
Further Taylor said, “They were able to know the direction to go from Washington D.C. —— that’s pretty cool!”
About a month into the migration the monarchs are gathering into huge flocks.
…………………………
TO BE CONTINUED WITH PART TWO——
JUST THINK, HOW COULD EVOLUTION COME UP WITH SUCH A TINY LITTLE CREATURE THAT IS FIRST A CATERPILLAR AND THEN A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY?
DOES EVOLUTION TALK TO ITSELF AND SAY, “WELL LET’S EVOLVE ONE STRAIN OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES, IN NORTH AMERICA, THAT CAN FLY TO MEXICO, TO A PLACE THEY DO NOT KNOW, AND A FLIGHT THEY’VE NEVER DONE BEFORE.”
I MEAN HOW DOES EVOLUTION FIGURE IT ALL OUT TO EVOLVE A TINY BRAIN THAT CAN DO THESE TWO THINGS. AND WHY BOTHER IN THE FIRST PLACE?
WHY NOT JUST LET THE MONARCHS LIVE AND BREED LIKE OTHER MONARCHS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, AND NOT BOTHER WITH A 2,000 MILE JOURNEY TO ONE SPECIFIC AREA IN MEXICO.
JUST GIVING BIRTH TO BUTTERFLIES FROM A CATERPILLAR IS MIRACULOUSLY CRAZY STUFF TO BEGIN WITH. WHY WOULD EVOLUTION DECIDE TO DO IT THIS WAY?
DOES EVOLUTION TALK TO ITSELF AND SIT DOWN AROUND A ROUND TABLE AND SAY, “NOW LET’S MAKE A BUTTERFLY THIS WAY… A WAY THAT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPREHEND, AND CERTAINLY NOT LOGICAL, A LONG WAY AROUND TO PRODUCE A BUTTERFLY.”
THIS ONE LITTLE DELICATE CREATURE AND HOW IT BECOMES A BUTTERFLY, SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO TELL ANYONE THAT THERE IS A CREATOR GOD BEING, WHO WAS BEHIND HOW A BUTTERFLY WOULD COME INTO BEING.
AND THEN HAVE ONE BATCH OF THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY IN NORTH AMERICA, FLY ALL THE WAY TO MEXICO TO AVOID THE COLD WINTER—— SUCH A DOING BLASTS EVOLUTION INTO A BILLION TRILLION PIECE OF GOO-BI-GOO NONSENSE.
BUT AS GOD HAS SAID IN HIS WORD, ONLY THE FOOL HAS SAID IN HIS HEART THERE IS NO GOD.
Keith Hunt
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