Can you help me out?
For 3 years as a teen I volunteered with our local Arborteum. My Mother liked to add interesting "strings" to my summer vacation by making me take volunteer jobs. It was fun (or I tried to make it fun). Each summer I'd do around 150-300 hours of volunteer work and that was mainly at the Arborteum. I enjoyed it, for the most part.
One of my fun responsibilities each summer would be helping the "Butterfly project". We would raise and tag between 100-350 butterflies each summer. I would cut milkweed, gather milkweed, search for eggs, feed the caterpillers, keep their "habitats" clean, it was a lot more labor intensive than you'd think. I wasn't the only one helping but I did a lot of work with it. In the end, I also got to "release" a lot of butterflies and that was the best part.
Another part of my "job" was helping run the tours that would come through the Arb. Showing kids camps and other visitors and tour groups as well our Butterfly Project was a highlight. I had to know their life cycle, answer questions, have be ready with source material too. Long story (TL:DR)- I got really familiar with Monarch Butterflies and I liked them.
Here's some info:
Monarchs only lay eggs on milkweed, they only eat milkweed, and they need milkweed to survive.
1) Leave Milkweed alone. If you don't like it think this- you're saving beautiful butterflies! That's awesome.
2) Start a butterfly garden!
3) Raise some butterflies- it's a great project for kids!
4) Add your "signature" to others to help protect them.
Thank you!