Skip to main content

The call of the prairie ditch - Lori Franz

 The Monarch season begins sometime in June, as a generation of Monarchs arrive in Manitoba from the 

Southern states.  They have flown 3000 km and arrive here with tattered wings from the rigors of flying 

50 kilometers a day.  Even so, they are determined to survive.  They quickly get to work by laying tiny 

white eggs on the leaves of milkweed, the only food source a Monarch caterpillar will eat.  


At this time I venture out into the prairie ditches of Manitoba, testing my back and hamstring flexibility by 

pouring over milkweed to find the tiniest treasures.  Hope in the form of a tiny Monarch egg.   While I am 

bent over with my face in the “weeds”, I am overcome with scent of wild roses drifting in the air.  The air 

itself is calm, and I feel the warmth slowly dissipate as the sun sinks in the western sky.  I can feel my 

excitement as I find more eggs,  1, 2 and before I know it, 30 eggs in my care and many, many more to 

find.  I wait.  3 days, 4 days, 5 days, and the tiniest creatures emerge from the shell with 1 goal in mind.  

Grow.  


Over the next days these minuscule beings, will grow by 2000%.  Shedding their skin 5 times and eating 

so much milkweed leaving me with serious janitorial duties to keep their home clean.  Everyday they 

need food, so I wander back to the prairie ditch, spotting more eggs, or wild born caterpillars, but I also 

notice other creatures I haven't seen before.   A beautiful red beetle whose name I do not yet know, 

whose feelers look exactly like a Monarch caterpillar poking out from under a delicious milkweed leaf.   

I notice there is much about the ditch habitat,  plants, flowers, grasses, I don't know the names of.  I think 

of the Tallgrass prairie as the grasses scratch at my legs and consider that there may need to be some 

"new to my yard" native Manitoba plantings in years to come.  More habitat for the nearly endangered 

Monarch, pollinator and nectar plants, and without a doubt, varieties of milkweed for my Monarch friends.  


I know a major change is coming when the biggest fattest caterpillars begin to wander.  Higher they go to 

the top of the enclosure, spin a sturdy silk pad and hang themself into a J.  Within 24 hours the caterpillar 

will be gone, and instead a gold rimmed, turquoise green Chrysalis emerges.  This miracle of nature, up 

close, and visible, connecting me to wonders I could and did not observe before.  I share it with friends, 

and their children and they too, are amazed. I message my sister who updates me on her Monarch 

escapades. 


The greatest transformation is yet to come.  Within those Chrysalis walls the butterfly forms.  A thorax, 

an abdomen, a beating heart, proboscis, legs, wings.  Time passes and suddenly the Chrysalis grows 

dark, with splashes of orange wings shinning through the now clear final skin.  The Chrysalis cracks and 

out the Monarch emerges, pumping fluid into the wings to enlarge and dry them.  3 hours of rest and after 

nearly a month in my care, a butterfly is ready to go.  She climbs on my finger, and with a few test flaps 

of the wings, she is gone.  And off I wander, hearing the call of the prairie ditch to do it all over again.   


ACAN seeks to educate and inspire sustainable practices in our community.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, altonacan.blogspot.com or email inquiries to  

altonacan@gmail.com Give us a shout if you would like to be a Friend of ACAN.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plastic Picnics

  By Jack Heppner Finally, after living with Covid restrictions for so long, we have arrived at the summer picnic season! We  all look forward to times of “dining out” with family and friends, especially since that option is only  available here in Southern Manitoba for a few months every year.  My concern is that such events have too often become “plastic picnics.” I have an image clearly etched on  my mind that leaves me with a feeling that something has gone wrong with our picnics.  Two or three families have just finished a picnic in the park – perhaps a family gathering or simply  friends getting together. The feast is over and now the picnic tables are piled high with garbage, mostly  some form of plastic, styrofoam or paper. Cups, plates, cutlery, food containers, bags, wrappers, pop and  water bottles and everything else you need for a modern picnic!  But this is only the beginning of the unfolding tragedy. Now you see a couple o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Altona CAN! Apply the Golden Rule During a Pandemic

  The other day, someone who falls into the high-risk category for COVID 19 was picking up some items at the  Farmer’s Market.   Because of her own risk factors, but also because she has family members who are high-risk, she  wore a mask as is currently advised by public health.  She was confronted by someone who argued that COVID-19  was “blown out of proportion” and that “a true person of faith wouldn’t live in fear and wear a mask.”    I am disturbed by this behaviour on two accounts.  First, the person who confronted the mask wearing individual  is someone who works with vulnerable people,  and comments about her beliefs about COVID-19 being blown out  of proportion suggest to me that she likely wouldn’t be someone who would take the necessary precautions (at least  not outside of her working environment).  Case in point: her comments were not stated from a respectful distance  of 2 meters.  Rather,...
3 comments
Read more

Altona CAN! Go Slow

Recently I have been thinking about slowing down. Of course, say my friends, you have reached retirement and so that is a legitimate proposition. But then, when I connect with some of my retired friends, one of their complaints I hear most often is that they are busier than ever.  I conclude that busyness has become one of our culture’s virtues. We tend to think more highly of people whose calendars are chock-full than of those who have a few open spaces left.  A lot has been written in recent decades about margins and boundaries. How long would you stay with a book, for example, that had no margins. Most of the book would likely remain unread. Slowing down reminds us that we are most fully alive when we live within appropriate boundaries that allow some room for surprise and flexibility. A good cup of coffee is best taken slowly, as is a good quality wine! So why do we gulp down our lives so quickly? Beyond being better for you, slowing down is becoming imperative in our day ...
Post a Comment
Read more