Colder Winters Resulting In Declining Numbers Of Monarch Butterflies -- June 7, 2015

This is an interesting article about the monarch butterfly. Its decreasing numbers is very, very well known and was the subject of a Fargo, ND, story last year, in which the declining number of monarch butterflies was blamed on loss of forest in Mexican mountains and .... drum roll ... cooler winters in the US:

Local experts say colder winters in the US and illegal logging of Mexico's forest are bringing drastic change to the Monarch population.

One year later, one of the two problems is resolved. There is no longer any shortage of Mexican forest. But the winters remain ... well, cold, though the folks in Washington can't bring themselves to acknowledge that, so it becomes the old stand-by, "We really don't know. Maybe it's pesticides." The StarTribune is reporting:

Scientists have cited a number of reasons for the decline. For a time, logging in and around Mexico’s mountain forests deprived them of critical winter protection, but that’s been largely stopped. Now their numbers are so low that there’s room to spare in the mountains.

So, using simple elimination from last year's WDAY article out of Fargo, it's the cooler climate.

But, gosh, that doesn't fit the Bill Maher school of common sense, so it must be something else. Let's go with milkweed.

And let's plant lots of it, from Dallas to Detroit. 

Whatever.

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Not A Pretty Picture

Not a good day for Phil Mickelson either (see graphic above -- yes, he is in the bottom five.