Nate Rott

There's all sorts of big conservation efforts that are currently ongoing in the U.S., but there's one big thing that you should really be thinking about with monarchs as we enter the next couple of months. Okay. The monarch butterfly, while it is listed internationally as vulnerable, it is not listed in the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act. Soon, that might change.

There's all sorts of big conservation efforts that are currently ongoing in the U.S., but there's one big thing that you should really be thinking about with monarchs as we enter the next couple of months. Okay. The monarch butterfly, while it is listed internationally as vulnerable, it is not listed in the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act. Soon, that might change.

There's all sorts of big conservation efforts that are currently ongoing in the U.S., but there's one big thing that you should really be thinking about with monarchs as we enter the next couple of months. Okay. The monarch butterfly, while it is listed internationally as vulnerable, it is not listed in the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act. Soon, that might change.

In early December, the Fish and Wildlife Service is going to make a proposed determination, which is very official language, about whether the monarch butterfly should be listed as threatened or endangered, which is complicated and interesting in like so, so, so many ways.

In early December, the Fish and Wildlife Service is going to make a proposed determination, which is very official language, about whether the monarch butterfly should be listed as threatened or endangered, which is complicated and interesting in like so, so, so many ways.

In early December, the Fish and Wildlife Service is going to make a proposed determination, which is very official language, about whether the monarch butterfly should be listed as threatened or endangered, which is complicated and interesting in like so, so, so many ways.

Pun excused. And we look at the challenge of protecting a species that's habitat could be your backyard.

Pun excused. And we look at the challenge of protecting a species that's habitat could be your backyard.

Pun excused. And we look at the challenge of protecting a species that's habitat could be your backyard.

It kind of depends on the time of year, right? Like, so these are migrating species. So there's times where there's tons of them here in coastal California and there's times that there's fewer. We are now entering the time of year where there are a lot of them because we're entering winter. I recently took a trip to another park, not the one where my dog chases butterflies, but

It kind of depends on the time of year, right? Like, so these are migrating species. So there's times where there's tons of them here in coastal California and there's times that there's fewer. We are now entering the time of year where there are a lot of them because we're entering winter. I recently took a trip to another park, not the one where my dog chases butterflies, but

It kind of depends on the time of year, right? Like, so these are migrating species. So there's times where there's tons of them here in coastal California and there's times that there's fewer. We are now entering the time of year where there are a lot of them because we're entering winter. I recently took a trip to another park, not the one where my dog chases butterflies, but

With a couple of biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And I got to learn, like, all sorts of cool things about monarchs. Like, did you know that milkweed, the plant their larvae eat, is toxic?

With a couple of biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And I got to learn, like, all sorts of cool things about monarchs. Like, did you know that milkweed, the plant their larvae eat, is toxic?

With a couple of biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And I got to learn, like, all sorts of cool things about monarchs. Like, did you know that milkweed, the plant their larvae eat, is toxic?

So this is Karen Sinclair, by the way. Whoa, so they're just low-grade poisoning themselves to not taste good?

So this is Karen Sinclair, by the way. Whoa, so they're just low-grade poisoning themselves to not taste good?

So this is Karen Sinclair, by the way. Whoa, so they're just low-grade poisoning themselves to not taste good?

So I had no idea about this. But the reason that I met with Karen wasn't like, you know, I didn't want to just pocket a bunch of fun pub trivia facts. I met with her because Karen trains volunteers to count monarch butterflies at overwintering sites in Ventura County every year. And it's those types of counts that are really providing the data to show that monarchs are in trouble.

So I had no idea about this. But the reason that I met with Karen wasn't like, you know, I didn't want to just pocket a bunch of fun pub trivia facts. I met with her because Karen trains volunteers to count monarch butterflies at overwintering sites in Ventura County every year. And it's those types of counts that are really providing the data to show that monarchs are in trouble.