In Southeastern Michigan it appears to be a slow year for the monarchs. Very few adults have been observed feeding on my flowers and so far, and  only one caterpillar on my milkweed. I have heard comments from other people that  have observed the lack of monarchs this year. With the weekend spent out of doors at the St. Clair Metro-park I only observed a single adult monarch butterfly headed south. In previous years I have seen many. As a biologist however I cannot ascertain for certain as to why the numbers are low this year. Was it the cool temperatures in the spring and throughout the summer, a poor survival rate of returning migrant butterflies in the spring, or perhaps a higher than normal survival rate of the predatory wasps whose larva feed on the monarch's caterpillars? It is the long term trends of butterfly populations that tell us what is happening in nature as there have always throughout history been good years and bad years for the survival of any species. Nature provides so many variables that can affect a population that a single year cannot be used to determine if there is or is not a long term problem.  Even tough  the monarchs made little use of my flowering common milk weed patch this year that plants did not go unused. Beautiful bright red milkweed beetles and my honey bees took full advantage of these wonderful plants.

Bats in the Attic:  As a naturalist it is hard remove an animal from where it wants to be.  Several years ago the bats moved into my attic but now their numbers have increased to nearly 30, and with that increased number comes an increase in the amount of bat guano and its associated smell. It is time to move the bats. To keep the bats from losing a home I have simply created a new one for them.  I managed to build a bat box that fits snuggly over the hole through which the bats leave my attic on their nightly excursions.   To leave my attic the bats must depart through their traditional entrance and pass through my bat house to reach the freedom of the evening skies. This way they will get used to the box on their way out. I managed to place an old sock over their entrance hole with the toe cut out of it. It allows the bats to squeeze their way out of their entrance hole  into and out of the sock but upon their passing through the hole in the toe of the sock the hole closes behind them and they will be unable to get back into my attic.   I will still have my beloved bats but without the guano and the associated smell in my attic.