Butterflies need Milkweed
Narrow-leaf milkweed is a beautiful spreading perennial that reaches a height of 3 feet. It has buds that look like little pink pearls that open to pale pinkish-white flowers. The flowers are umbel-shaped, meaning they are a flat-topped or rounded flower cluster in which the individual flower stalks arise from the same point. Umbel-shaped flowers are perfect landing pads for pollinators.
The “milk” of the milkweed has alkaloids and latex as well as other chemicals that can be toxic. Monarch butterflies, however, can safely eat this chemical, which then protects them from being eaten by birds. The chemical they ingest makes them taste horrible.
Milkweed can be considered weedy because it likes to travel within the garden, but it is quite easy to pull out any plants that have invaded.
Milkweed grows in dry, open fields below 7000 feet from Southeast Washington through Oregon and California, all the way down to Baja California. It is an easy plant to grow; it likes clay soil, can tolerate little water and it dies back each winter.
If more homeowners grew milkweed in suburban and urban gardens, maybe a new pathway could be created for migrating Monarch butterflies.
Patrice Hanlon
ANG Newspapers
http://www.birdlodges.com/butterfly-vivarium.html
http://www.birdlodges.com/butterfly-blue.html
http://www.birdlodges.com/butterfly-orange.html
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Bat Disease Treatment
From ANG newspapers, September 20, 2010:
Bat disease hope
New treatments are being proposed to help combat a fatal bat disease that has decimated the flying mammals’ population in the eastern United States. The so-called white-nose syndrome is a fungal infection that emerged in 2006. Scientists don’t know exactly how it has wiped out 97 percent of the bat population in some areas, but researchers think they can fight it. Addressing a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Jeremy Coleman, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s response to the problem, says that the use of antifungal drugs might be successful in treating infected bats, and antiseptics could be used to decontaminate bat caves. But Coleman warns that further study is necessary to make sure the treatments don’t harm other wildlife or cause their own set of problems.
Would you like to shop for bat houses? Just click here for the complete selection of BirdLodges.com Bat Houses.
Bat disease hope
New treatments are being proposed to help combat a fatal bat disease that has decimated the flying mammals’ population in the eastern United States. The so-called white-nose syndrome is a fungal infection that emerged in 2006. Scientists don’t know exactly how it has wiped out 97 percent of the bat population in some areas, but researchers think they can fight it. Addressing a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, Jeremy Coleman, head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s response to the problem, says that the use of antifungal drugs might be successful in treating infected bats, and antiseptics could be used to decontaminate bat caves. But Coleman warns that further study is necessary to make sure the treatments don’t harm other wildlife or cause their own set of problems.
Would you like to shop for bat houses? Just click here for the complete selection of BirdLodges.com Bat Houses.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
Many of the bird feeders on www.BirdLodges.com were developed with the help of experts from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and are constructed of durable, weather-resistant materials. The seed feeders hold a large quantity of seed and allow you to enjoy a wide variety of songbirds. The hummingbird feeders are colorful and just what the hummers are looking for.
September shipping special! Free shipping for any total sales of $100 or more!
September shipping special! Free shipping for any total sales of $100 or more!
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