Found a monarch that is most definitely unable to fly in my backyard 4-5 hours ago now. I’ve been hanging out in the backyard with it, its full of energy, and more than happy to eat, but it has made absolutely no progress with flying more than an inch or two before summersaulting around in the air & death spiraling into a very painful to watch crash landing, every time. It had rained pretty heavily yesterday so when I found him struggling on my lawn I was hoping he just needed to try off, but it’s clear now that is not the case. Since I just happened upon it, I’m very ill prepared. This video popped up as one of the first results when searching for how to handle a flightless monarch on Bing. I’ve been trying my best to help the little guy out since 11:45am (ish) this morning with his energy being the only thing seeing improvement. Thank you for posting this, it’s relieving to know that there really is just only so much I can do & he isn’t just suffering due to my ignorance. I can finally take a breath.
I just had this situation and it about killed me! I had a female that couldn't fly so I fed her well and let her go in the am,, put her on a nice cluster of flowers to let her enjoy a "normal" life. I found her on the lawn the next day, brought her in fed her again and let her go to let nature take its course. I found her two days later in the coils of the hose. It really was too late. But I thought I could feed her and just keep her in in the evenings and out during the day on plants inside some netting. She wouldn't eat and just got weaker and weaker. It was heartbreaking. She finally passed two days later and I buried her under the milkweed she was born on. Thank you for your videos and the inspiration. So far I've release 22 with 33 and 24 to go. I live in East Central Florida so this weekend I will be cutting my milkweed back to discourage any more eggs. I'm hoping to be confident enough next year to tag my "kids". Thank you for your videos I've learned so much.
Hello from another Monarch lover in Port Orange Fl. I now have one that fell during enclose and the wing is malformed. I am feeding him and hoping he at least lives a decent life.
@@fishingpinky3165l had one female with closed wings . l had her as a pet for 6 weeks . Feed her on a cotton ball in the house put it in a small lid. I made Willow a netting enclosure to wrap around milkweed out side so she could enjoy the flowers and walk around and be safe. I couldnt believe it sure started laying unfertalized eggs all over the plants. She was so happy. I did spend alot of time with her.Willow even went camping with us in our RV .😂 came home and lived her life a complete 6 weeks. I cried as she got weaker. She would turn her head and look at me as if to speak her gratefulness.
Oh goodness. That’s heart breaking. All of mine flew high and out of sight quickly except for one. I’ve noticed his wing isn’t right. It’s sort of bent I think. I put it back in the enclosure on some flowers and it’s hanging at the top of the cage I’m going to try again tomorrow
Awhhh man 🤧 I found one today that definitely had something wrong with its right wing and it’s quite obvious it’s having trouble flying .. I took it home to feed but it’s getting really cold here in Toronto Canada as it’s October now :( .. do you think I can make it a decent enclosure so that it can have a decent life until it passes?
Thank You. I’m raising monarchs and the last batch had a few with wing problems. I’ve actually handled things the same way you describe. One died and the others were ok in a few days. I hand fed one of them constantly and let him just hang out on the flowers. They walked just fine and enjoyed walking the screens. They were enclosed in my patio. But still unable to Fly. Then one day when I brought it outside it took flight. I was cheering it on. It went pretty high then came back circling all over the garden and fluttering around my head as if she was saying thanks. I’ll never forget that butterfly
There is a 4th option. Many years ago, I had a male, Pete, who eclosed with one bent forewing - otherwise he was perfect. I kept him in an outdoor enclosure, fed him Gatorade and made sure he had fresh flowers. After work each day, I would take him out in the garden and put him on flowers. He lived for 5 weeks in this manner. It was sad, but I didn't know what else to do and - at that point - had never had to euthanize a butterfly. Much later, I discovered a video about REPLACING a butterfly wing, so when I found a dead monarch on my lawn, I kept it in my freezer. In time I had another with a bent wing and, following the directions in the video, I replaced it with one of my frozen wings. That butterfly flew! In fact, I used another monarch wing to replace a broken wing on a giant swallowtail that I'd raised. Those butterflies are NOT calm and laid back like monarchs - when they want to go, they'll beat themselves up. I first tried splinting the cracked wing, but the light cardboard splint was too heavy. So I cut a piece of monarch wing to fit the shape of the swallowtail wing, glued it and he flew off. A frankenfly that wouldn't look good to a mate to be sure, but he was able to go.
There is an emotional side to this entire process... anticipation, hope, joy, wonder, and the sadness of letting them go, even when everything goes perfectly. Having the validation of some options can help people feel a lot less guilty when something unsavory needs to be done. Would love you to share more of that wonder and leave us with uplifting ideas, even on the difficult subjects. Thank you for guiding us through the dark side, so we don't have to do it alone. Now go inspire us some more and remind us why it is so worth the risk to raise something so fragile, yet so amazing. :)
@@MrLundScience what is the name of the primate glue that you used to hang the chrysalis and where do I get it? I ordered a natural one online but it's going to be 4 days before it comes in the mail and I just used Elmer's wood glue out of pure desperation and it's hanging pretty good I just hope that it doesn't toxify my chrysalis?
I actually think it’s incredibly important to discuss this circumstance. After a period of time if one continues to raise monarchs, they will have to make this decision. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks so much for making this video. Sadly, I am faced with this situation. I have raised and released 28 Monarch butterflies this season, which has been a great triumph for me! Yesterday morning I saw that two chrysalis were darkened and it was just a matter of time before 2 new butterflies emerged. Normally, they have been emerging early in the morning, but it's September in Kentucky (if that has anything to do with it) and my butterflies are coming out a little later in the day, like afternoons. So I had to run an errand and when I got back, both were out and one was hanging normally. The other, though, had the end of her abdomen still stuck inside the chrysalis and her wings were not looking normal. With a gentle touch, I disconnected her from the chrysalis and she seemed relieved and started walking around on the screen her chrysalis was attached to. The other butterfly soon flew away but this little girl, started her wing beats and I saw the problem. Her wings had been malformed as a result of her being stuck. She's eager to crawl onto my finger as I take her from flower to flower, and she spent the night on a Tithonia in my flower bed. Today I have taken her to the butterfly bush and she is eating well. I feel so guilty about not being here during her birth.. I even thought of building her new wings out of wings I've found in the past. But I am going with your second option. I will keep her outside on my flowers for as long as they hold out, but it is September and they are already fading. So much can happen during the raising of these beautiful creatures...but I think I will still do it again next year. A little older, and a little wiser all the time. Thank you again, Rich.
And thank YOU for doing what you can to help them. Any of the options are respectable, but that also means, when any option of these are chosen, I can only respect the person for making their decision. And another thank you given for considering them and deciding which you were most comfortable with. Each year teaches us the lessons needed to improve the next year. We just have to be willing to listen.
I have raised more than 300 butterflies this summer, just today when I come home from work and found two butterflies fall from hanging and broken their wings. I think it will be hard for them to make the trip to Mexico, so I might just take care of them as pets. It’s so hard to see them like this, because they meant to fly.
I needed this video. 2 days ago, a monarch emerged and her wings are very crumpled and she can't fly. Her Chyrsalis had fallen, I thought that maybe I caught it in time and unfortunately I did not. I feel responsible, but I wasn't home when she fell. Thank you Rich.
You're very welcome. We all go through it at some point if we are raising enough Monarchs. It's a shared experience, though I'm sure not many of us like talking about it. It's an uncomfortable topic. To be honest, I've gotten much more positive feedback on this than I thought. That's appreciated, for sure.
What sort of enclosure do you have the chrysalides in? If it's all mesh, then they should be able to climb back up the side if they fall. But if it's a plastic/glass aquarium then they have trouble climbing up the sides.
I've been raising Monarch's for 7 years now and I've seen a lot! The good, bad and the really tough decisions. I had 1 Monarch that didn't form properly and was OE free. I decided to raise it and I fed it Hummingbird food for the 6 weeks it lived. It didn't seem to want to be free. It was as if it knew what I was doing to help it. It knew when I was going to feed it and it ate well. I believe most live 6 weeks or maybe more, but I felt good that I gave this One 6 weeks it wouldn't have otherwise had. Thank you for your videos. I always recommend them to new people raising Monarch's. I'm in San Diego California and the Tanchid fly is the worst enemy to the Monarch's! I wish We could figure out how to get rid of this pest! It kills so many!!!
Oh l did just that as well. I made a net enclosure for her to walk and enjoy milkweed outside and put it on with a close pin. Willow even layed eggs on MW.. That was a happy thing. 6 weeks she lived. Took her camping in the RV too. ❤ Such a gift right?
I honestly like a mix of option 1 and 2. I had one early this year that couldn’t fly, so I kept him in a cage but felt that hurt that he couldn’t be what he was. So I decided everyday for a few hours id let him out into the gardens. He seemed to really enjoy that.
I tried the same about 2 years ago with one who was nearing the end of her days. I found her in my yard with a torn wing and couldn't bare the thought of just leaving her there struggling. So I brought her in, I repaired the wing, I fed her and took her outside to the wildflowers several times a day and after about 4 days she really seemed like she wanted to be away from me, out in nature. For the first days, she didn't try to get away at all so it didn't feel wrong. But once she started trying to go, I started feeling guilty. So I said my goodbye, as did my cat.. He grew pretty attached to her lol.. And I took her out to the back field full of flowers. She flew, a little, and the next day I couldn't find her.
@@Liannabelle8 hello please may u tell me how u fixed the wing? I have a butterfly whos wing is completely damaged and mis-shapened and I really want to attempt to fix it! Please explain in detail and every step you did to help it. Also can butterflies that havent been fed well be too weak to fly? I took mine home from a nursery I work at as they were the last two that wouldnt fly off but all the others were fine and seems they havent been fed well so I've made some honey water nectar up for them on a sponge and they have drank some with their tongues. I've got two both cant fly but ones wings are fine (as much as I can tell) whilst the others wings are mis-shapened and broken and when they try and fly they both just flitter on their backs upside down trying to get back up... its very stressful and sad as I have so much empathy for all living things and do not at all want them to suffer I just want them to live their lives they were they are supposed too 😢. Please any advice would be much appreciated 🙏 ❤ thanks a bunch and anyone else whos got advice please let me know ASAP!
I've had some where they just needed some extra tlc. Fed them, gave them sunshine while protecting them from the neighborhood cats, and then they were able to fly away after a day or so.
I hope this is the case with mine...in the meantime I make sure I take her outside in the Breeze and sunshine and I feel her enclosure with flowers and nature
She did NOT ever fly...but she lived quite a bit longer than the last one I had that had a birth defect. Unfortunately, because I rescue caterpillars from the wild and try to keep them safe until they emerge from cocoon, near 50% of mine are born unable to fly or fuse there proboscis. But the ones that do live.... I feel like those are victories! :-)
Your videos have been a saving grace! Finding information on caring for injured monarchs is surprisingly hard to come by. We recently had a rescued chrysalis that had fallen, and was badly flattened on one side. The butterfly emerged with one set of wings curled to the side, and sadly cannot fly. We've made the choice to feed and caretake for her, thank you for sharing the knowledge for how to feed them!
Yes, I noticed this topic wasn't really out there at the time (and I guess, still isn't too much). I assumed it might be that it's a rough subject and not too many probably want to talk about it. I didn't really want to either. Still, it's better to be equipped with some options if the situation arises than to not. Glad you found it useful!
I cannot thank you enough for making this video. About a year ago I started a butterfly garden outside and a small one in my screen room. By the way I live in Florida. The middle of February I had approximately 60 caterpillars outside at one time. Luckily I was able to buy alot of milkweed to feed them all. However because I had so many a few of the butterflies have deformed wings or a front broken leg. I have been sad to put it mildly. After watching your video it helped to understand why it can happen and my options. I am feeding one, she's very calm and will sit on my finger. Unfortunately the 2 others are beyond help. Great news yesterday I released 23 monarchs.
I appreciate your video and found it after we found a wild monarch with a bent wing 😢 we are going to try option 1…thanks for this information…it was super helpful!
I have been in this situation a few times this past season and currently working with a very mild wing issue. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you for making this video, it was well presented and needed. Thank you so very much.
We found a chrysalis attached to a fuel can in our lawn mower shed and have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little friend. It eclosed sometime yesterday and still had curled wings when we discovered it, so we left it in the shed, not knowing how much longer it needed to rest. Today it was stuck in a cobweb and the wings were still curled up. :-( We appreciate this video, as it helped immensely with deciding to give the little fella (or lady) a chance to experience life. After bravely flutter-stepping around our driveway, it found some clovers to munch on. If 2020 has taught us anything so far, it's that you've got to live what life you have! Thanks again!
Thank you for the guidance! The fact is, if you’re raising as many monarchs as I am. There’s no way around the fact there’s gonna be some problems and some very sad days. We chose to take in nature and we should al know nature can be very cruel as well as absolutely beautiful and a great learning process for our soul and life lessons. I’ve raised 100’s if monarchs over the last 5 years and please don’t take this the wrong way. It gets a tiny drop easier making decisions once you’ve experienced all that I have so far. I’m not as shocked going out in the morning and seeing a hanging down caterpillar partially alive, but in its way out. I refuse to allow the other insects to slowly eat it and it can spread what ever caused its sickness to all the other caterpillars unfortunately. I’ve also experienced deformed butterflies come out of perfect chrysalis’ . I’ve tried fixing their wings and it never works. I don’t have the experience or the tools for it. Every year I feel myself wanting to call it quits and pull all the milkweed out and never do this again, but somehow I push on and do it year after year and hope for the best. At least I’ve watched a few hundred monarchs fly away so far. It makes it worth the bad times to witness that. The best way to learn is through experience along with great videos like this one. It’s all about sharing our experiences to help each other help the monarchs as well as other pollinators. Good luck everyone!
This is my first year of raising Monarchs. I've released 15 so far. The 16th one just emerged this morning. He is our in my habitat drying his wings. I have one more chrysalis that I think will emerge tomorrow. I've watched so many of your videos and they have helped so much. THANK YOU! I live in SW Florida so our season is, as you know, longer. I've had a few that didn't make it for whatever reason. I was heart broken and didn't want to see them suffer, so thank you for the euthanizing video. I think the freezer is the best option, and a proper burial afterward. I also had one with a crumpled wing and after caring for it for a couple of days I took it to work and released it in our butterfly garden. (I work in a library that has a butterfly garden that is maintained by a volunteer gardening group. The local butterfly group comes and releases some butterflies there, occasionally) I felt it was the best place to feel free and have a food source that it could get to with its limited mobility. I do have a question. One of the butterflies I froze I felt may have had OE, she was badly deformed. Do you think the freezing helps to kill and prevent the spread of OE?
Hey Phillis. Sorry that there were a few that didn't do so well, but, it takes a thicker skin than some might think to raise these guys. Thank you for soldiering through it. It's much appreciated. Thank you for your care and concern. As for the euthanized butterfly that may have had OE, I wouldn't be too worried. The spores can survive cold temperatures. How cold, I'm not 100% sure on. Still, we must be careful that after euthanizing, we dispose of the body properly, and burial (followed by a hand washing) should do the trick just fine. OE spores are only a problem if they get to where a caterpillar will eat them. That would be either on milkweed leaves, or onto an adult that will either put them on milkweed leaves, or on another adult that will, such as in mating. So, burying them in the ground would pose no issues.
Since I found your channel 2 years ago, I've been on a mission to help the Monarch butterflies. I commented my 1st go around, when 2 of my hatchlings didn't hatch. You said they were sick. (Thank you for helping me). Last year I raised 2 with perfect success. Well this year I planted milkweed seeds I'd gathered last fall. They yielded about 10-15 large plants. I babied those plants all summer, but no eggs as of July 28th. We went on vacation for 2 weeks, and when we got home, behold 20 monarch caterpillars. All the same age; I'm assuming just 1 female took advantage of the garden I'd planted just for her. Five developed their chrysalis today and 6 are j-hanging tonight on the lattice I placed behind the Monarch garden. This is a very fulfilling project, and I can't wait to do it again. I couldn't have done it without your TH-cam channel. Thanks so much!
So cool to hear that! Sounds like a female did do an "egg dump" on your plants if they are all of the same developmental age, but, that's not certain of course. Either way, so glad to hear that it's been successful for you this year. You're off and rolling!
Rich, today I watched a monarch struggle to get out of the chrysalis. We sat there for an hour and a half not knowing it should only take 15 minutes and finally the butterfly had just a little bit left on one wing so I got a tweezers and pulled it off. The butterfly very weakly flooded its wings and after watching your video I gave up hope. As a last resortI took the butterfly and put her on a nectar plant and let her sit there. I went in the house To cry I kept checking on her. Approximately two hours later after checking on her every 10 minutes I looked out just in time to see her wings fluttering madly fully grown and watch her fly away. Thank you for your advice on Putting the butterfly on a nectar plant in this case it wasn’t to die, it was to nourish her until she had the strength and get the fluid in her wings to fly away
Your videos are fantastic and I am so grateful to have found them…. Especially grateful for your willingness to speak in a thoughtful manner about our special needs butterflies as well as the OE parasite problem and how to test for it. Thank you for having the courage knowing that your knowledge was needed! I have a weak and malformed female in my care now after finding her struggling outside. We have a microscope on order, but she is quarantined for the interim. I made the mistake of placing a too large ramekin with sugar water outside while she was still there only later to be horrified finding her drowning in it! A full 24 hours, few dunks and showers later, she seems happy enough in her box along w her watermelon and honey water cotton ball and of course milkweed to make her feel more at home. Tomorrow we’ll see how she does placed on flowers and pray she will let us know what she wants… continue w option #1 or find her own way via option #2. Deep bow of appreciation for your work and service. There is still hope in this wild world ❤️
I don’t have enough words to express how much your videos have helped me and how much I have enjoyed raising monarchs. Today I have my first little guy that can’t fly and I am so heartbroken. Thank you for taking on this topic and presenting all the options in a compassionate rational way. Trying to figure out what went wrong but I have no idea. Heartbreaking.
It's sad when it happens, for sure, but it's better to happen with the knowledge of what you would do in such a situation. I had a male this year that had everything about him looking perfect. But, he'd flap his wings in erratic ways, and just couldn't fly. Everything was in tact, but no flight. If we raise Monarchs for enough summers, we'll see this from time to time. Never easy to see, but we'll see it nonetheless.
@@MrLundScience Soo, I tested for OE and he was clean, I kept him overnight because it was late and then in the morning I brought him a fresh flower he was eating like crazy. I had opted for putting him out in the garden as my solution so I took him out there put him on a flower in my butterfly garden and he took off and flew away!!
Yeah, when their wings look good, you gotta give them a few days to perhaps "figure it out", so to speak. This year's male, I described, never was able to get it under control. I'm pleased to hear that yours eventually took flight.
Thank you so very much for putting this video together. Within a month of having our first monarch caterpillar we have found ourselves in this situation. It's heartbreaking. Because you bravely decided to discuss the hard topic I have the information I needed. For what it's worth, your option 2 was the one that I had selected on my own but I was starting to second guess my decision. It's heartbreaking to see her hanging on the top of a milkweed flower but she does not seem to be in distress at all (aside from the obvious). I was starting to consider option 1 but honestly I think I would just end up making it worse for her and us. Seriously, thank you. Your video really helped with the emotions. On a happier note, our milkweed (three different species) are absolutely full of caterpillars and I can find chrysalids easily pretty much everywhere in our yard. One of our swamp milkweed plants (A. Incarnata) was literally eaten to the ground with only half a leaf remaining at the bottom of a naked stem. A few days later it had new growth all over it.
Thank you so much for this video. I knew these would be the three options you would discuss but somehow listening to someone else discuss it helped me with this process.
Thank you for making this video. Woke up this morning to a butterfly that had fallen while filling his wings and wasn't sure what to do. Very glad to see you have a video on the topic.
Thank you for this video. We literally raised 100s of monarchs this summer with all the stay at home orders this year. Deciding what to do for the few that can't fly has been very hard. Sometimes I've raised them for weeks and sometimes I've put them outside (but geez the guilt of "giving up on them" was a lot). Your logic on option 2 is a very helpful way to look at it so thank you for that.
Thank you!! I am new to raising monarchs. I have released 66 healthy ones since March. I've had a butterfly garden for decades. I moved to SW Florida 7 years ago and have really gotten into milkweed. I love having them all around the garden and have even watched them from just a couple feet away lay eggs on the milkweed outside. How fun!!! :) I have had a few not so healthy and today had one that dropped as it was hatching and is not formed at all. I thought for sure it was not alive and was so sad when I touched him and he moved. His 2 front legs do not work correctly. Although he's able to move around a bit with his back 2. His wings are not formed at all but you can see he's/she's trying to move them. The body looks disfigured. I am not sure if its stamen is working correctly. It doesn't seem to be moving that well. I've placed him on a large fully bloomed penta and have provided a cap of water and a small orange slice. In the flower. I was going to put him outside. I agree....this is how it would have been in nature. I don't want to put him in the freezer although my friend suggested that and I hate to see him suffer. So, I am going with letting him die naturally with dignity. Humanizing the monarch. hahah. I have a living will. I just hope he isn't in pain. My views may change in the future but for today he's sitting quietly on the penta. Your video was a tremendous help!! Great Work!! :) Thank You!! :)
Thank you very much for all these Monarch Butterfly videos. While I've only had one butterfly emerge from a Chrysalis just fine this season, I now have the information on what I could do if future butterflies aren't as lucky. Keep up the great work, sir!
What an awesome awesome video. Thank you so much for presenting this. This is my 2nd year with Monarchs, and today was just a bad day. After dozens of happy releases, I had two to euthanize, and for the first time, a failure to fly. Beautifully formed, good wing action, but he cannot stay airborne. I watched your video...felt hugely not so alone...so I'll feed this boy and see how he is in the morning. Maybe with food, rest and some bench presses, he'll be ready to fly. Otherwise, sadly, he's a candidate for option 2. He wants out, one way or another.. . Thanks again.
Give them at least a week of TLC before giving up on them. I found that sometimes it takes that long. Sometimes they have a slightly swollen belly, and I don't know what it is, but it resolves in a few days and suddenly they feel well and they can fly. Sometimes I think the failure to stay airborne is that they don't feel well and they're not flapping their wings fast enough. When they feel well, they get full of energy and they can fly away. Also, I found that many monarchs with a split proboscis, after feeding them pure liquid for a few days, will sometimes fuse them days later. Again, I think they don't feel well and after they start to feel better, they do what they need to survive. I've been able to release some that came out with a split proboscis after several days.
Thanks so much for this informative and thoughtful video. Was upset to have found a Monarch on the grass with deformed wing. Will opt for second choice.
This happened to me four different times. I placed mine in the garden with flowers but it still made me sad but it is nature and it is a process if we try to help Monarchs continue to multiply and survive. Thanks Rich for the information
You're welcome. If we raise Monarchs, eventually we encounter this. While it's not "pleasant" information, its information we might need from time to time to consider. Thanks for checking it out.
Thank you for your honest and informational video. I was given a caterpillar and raised it as a class pet. We were very happy today as we witnessed the butterflying emerging from its chrysalis. However, both of his front wings are curled. I have been researching on what to do and came across your video. I am thinking about taking it home to nurse it.
I appreciate your help! Your video was very helpful for the monarch my students found. I'm going with option #2 and plan to use this life lesson as part of our natural selection and life cycle units. Thank you for the helpful information.
Glad you have discussed all three options. It’s sad to see their wings broken and can’t fly like other healthy ones. Thank you for this marvelous video.
Thank you!!! You have helped me reason out the choice for a situation just like this. All are sensible to my mind and I've selected the one that resonates most with my outlook. Many thanks!
Have learned so much from your informative videos and love reading your thoughtful and empathetic responses to comments. You are a fine teacher! Sadly, my very first butterfly to eclose fell just after he had pumped fluid into the veins. Got him back on the chrysalis very quickly, but his lower right wing is slightly damaged and the upper right is a little misshapen. He is unable to fly aside from very short flutters, mostly down. I have decided on a combination of 1 and 2. I take him in at night and in rain and feed him some honey water, but put him outside on flowers in my garden when it is sunny and warm during the day. I am hoping that he is enjoying his time out in nature. If he teaches a bird a good lesson about eating monarchs, so be it. Happily, I have 10 more chrysalides and one last instar 5 cat, and I'm hoping they will all do better.
Yeah, there's no easy choice with these options. But, you gotta do what you feel most comfortable with, and at least take solace in knowing that whichever option you prefer, there is an amount of logic to it.
I have a monarch that emerged last weekend and did not have quite enough room to dry his wings properly. He surprised me by eclosing a day or so earlier than expected. He has both fore wings bent slightly. Otherwise healthy. I have decided to keep him and I place him out on a huge flowering bush with lots of other butterflies during the day. He is seemingly learning to fly short distances but comes in to a flower bouquet I have in my en suite bathroom for the night. I think this is a better option than just keeping in a box or whatever. It's a little of the one idea and a little of the other. I know a bird may eat him and nature may take it's course but he's hopefully getting some quality of life and I feel I am doing the best for him I can at present. I am considering cutting a small portion of the bent area off each of his wings to hopefully help him fly better. I have heard with 60% of wings they can still fly. Has anyone tried this?
I'm sure may have tried it, and I'm guessing with mixed success. Probably it's obvious, but it depends upon what 40% is missing. If it's just the tips of the fore wings, the logic is sound, and if I were in your position, I'd probably try it out.
I've had a monarch do a similar thing that you said and fell while eclosing. Same thing happened, crumpled wings. I decided to do the natural thing and put him on some flowers, but when I went to go check on him again he was covered in ants. I felt terrible LOL. I am taking care of an Eastern Black Swallowtail that eclosed way late as I write this and she is almost a month old. I'm enjoying it. She is not a burden
I’ve raised all the adult butterflies that couldn’t fly, hand fed them and sometimes I took them out to educate people about monarchs. It’s like any other animals who need help, I chose not to euthanize unless they won’t eat or badly hurt by a cat or what ever. I also let them hang out on curtains facing a window or place them in my outdoor butterfly room. They need to feel free. Usually towards the end I may put them on a nice fresh flower and peacefully let nature take its course. They usually disappear or I find the dead body later on after some time. It’s sad but, you have to remember that you’ll have more soon. P.s. They respond to your affection when you talk to them.
I was given a caterpillar that was a few weeks old by a friend who's a "master gardener" and this caterpillar was kept in a container on a leaf and the leaf was kept in a vial to keep the leaf moist and the vial was kept in a glass jar. Everything was going fine until one day, a family member accidentally knocked the container on the ground. The glass jar squished the poor thing. I was heart broke. 😭 I was just a beginner and that was my first caterpillar so I did not know that the jar posed a threat to my caterpillar so I learned alot from that experience. I admire your work and your channel so much that you have inspired me to grow milkweed in my backyard and try to raise caterpillars again.😊
I'm happy to hear that you're still at it. We're all human, capable of making mistakes. Continuing on, you'll save more Monarchs and be helping them in the long run. When tragedy happens, learning from it can make it a good thing in retrospect. In life in general, I've had to make some major mistakes to gain some wisdom. Mistakes are like life's version of sore muscles. Have to go through that soreness to increase your strength.
You are Awesome! Thankyou for your professional guidance. You are like the Guardian Angel for these beautiful beings. I’ve just subscribed to your excellent channel. Thanks again! ❤️
Hey, thanks! But remember, I'm not a professional when it comes to Monarchs. (High School Chemistry teacher? Yes, professional.) With the Monarchs, I'm an amateur, but perhaps a seasoned one. We all can be, if we stick at it. Welcome aboard!
Thank you, I appreciate the time you took to share these options. I have raised several different butterflies, most successful some not and its never easy when its not. These videos are always helpful for those learning along the way. Regardless easy or not. I just found a monarch that can't fly properly so I will attempt to care for it and see what happens but I will also bring it outside from time to time especially since it has already experienced living outside. We'll see what happens from there. Thanks again for sharing all your monarch videos.
Thanks. It's the tough situations we don't like to talk about, and thus, probably the tough ones that need to be addressed from time to time. Appreciate you taking care of those that have a struggle.
Thank you for posting this. I just experienced my first flightless Monarch. Perfectly formed wings, but something must have gone wrong somewhere. I have decided to put him in my large lantana and let him feed and experience the nature he is so eager to be in. I want his purpose to be an "educational" experience for a young bird so as to protect the healthy Monarchs. Every living creature needs to have a purpose. :)
Last year we had one with a bad wing. It could fly but for only short distances. We decided to let nature take it's course and let it go. As you mentioned, at least it got to experience nature. It does break your heart to see that but it breaks my heart to be driving down the road and see one fly smack into the car in front of me. You can't save everything. I have learned so much from your videos, thank you for the time and effort you have put into them. As I indicated to you before in a previous comment, the Hudson Valley in NYS has had a late start with the Monarchs. My first cat turned into chrysalis today. So far I am I nave collected over 40 eggs, woohoo!
Hey, great to hear that despite it being a late start, you've found plenty to keep yourself busy with! Thanks for updating me on that. It was definitely on my mind.
Last year, I had one fall shortly after eclosing, resulting in a bent wing. The next day, if I tossed her into the air, she would quickly flutter to the floor (indoor) or the ground (outdoor). I kept her inside for another day. That day, when I released her, she flew up, into a tree. I'm not sure she could fly straight. I've often wondered if I did the right thing. This video helps me feel better about having released her.
You're for sure welcome. I'm glad it's being received well. Some don't wish to discuss these parts of it, so it's been an elephant in the room for a while now. I'd rather talk about it and have some discussion than ignore something we all might go through.
Thank you so much for sharing this insight and covering the pros and cons. We kept our girl Matilda and she is now a week old and seems to be doing well!
Thank you for all the infomation you shared. We successfully raised (from 4th and 5th instar), tagged, and released 24 monarchs this year with no issues. A couple days ago, the kids were playing outside and found a forlorn looking monarch in the grass with multiple holes in all 4 wing sections, some of them quite large. Other spots of the wings were friable (visibly, they looked grey and papery, almost like they had been burned). We brought him inside, checked him for OE, then attempted a repair with parts of another monarch wing that my daughter had in her "nature collection." We didn't have enough material to cover all the holes, but we covered the largest ones. The butterfly was apparently starving, and drank nectar (honey water from the end of a soft paintbrush) multiple times over the next hour. We let him rest overnight, and attempted to release him today. Unfortutately, while he could fly okay, he couldn't seem to get any height, and kept fluttering back to the ground. So he's back with us, and since he seems relaxed and eager/easy to feed, I suppose we'll keep him.
I have raised monarch since I was a little kid and it has always been so fun! I have done it quite a few times, and I have had many different kinds of experiences with it. One of my latest experiences which is one of the sadder ones was when my caterpillars erupted with parasitic wasp worms, I was very sad after this, but again I still tried to keep them alive a second time and it was working for a while until they turned into cocoons, then after about half of them flew away we were stuck with three who all had bad wings or curved wings, we tried to help a few by letting them in the sun and in the wind and two of them flew off, one of them we still have who is just staying in our yard we didn’t want to take it back in an enclosure, so I did a mix of the two first options, I have it in a bush now, and it *could* get eaten, if it does, than that’s nature. But it is safe, with food.
Thank you for the information. You did the right thing talking about this. I think 2 is the best option because this is what would be if the butterfly was born outside but I would probably opt for 3 for my own selfish reasons. Thank you for helping us help the monarchs.
Thank you!!! I bet this was a tough video to make, but it is necessary for those of us whom are trying to correctly raise Monarchs. I was thankful to hear all the pros and cons of the different options. WHEN (not IF) that time comes, I'll be ready to make a choice. Thank you for all the information in all of your videos. You're the one I check with first when wanting to learn more about helping raise Monarchs.
@@MrLundScience Welp, one of my chrysalides was not looking right, so that's why I watched this video to begin with. It is as if the chrysalis didn't form all the way. However, it formed enough that there was a very thin layer over half the butterfly. If I looked close enough, I could see her breathing. (I have pictures of the chrysalis in case you're interested.) The caterpillar had only one antenna before making the chrysalis, so I don't know what happened. Anyway, the butterfly looks normal except that she has one antenna and cannot fly. I thought I would choose Option 2 only, but when she was still on the hasn't- bloomed-yet butterfly bush as it was raining and getting dark last night, I put her in a cage and made sure she drank some honey water. I suppose I'll make sure she is fed and safe for now. Then when the weather is nice in a few days, I plan on putting her back outside close to something flowering. So, I may be switching back in forth between Options 1 and 2. If after she had eclosed, she had been extremely deformed, I would have chosen Option 3. I've learned the options are on a case-by-case basis. Thank you again for your advice!
Thank you, I am in the situation to make one of those options. I leaning to keeping it alive, but taking outside to experience the outdoors. This is a hard situation.
I find myself in the sad position of contemplating these options. I have an adult who hatched missing the right antennae, a lame right front leg, and right main wing that came out of the chrysalis like a thin, wet noodle. I removed the wing and right foreleg as the leg would drag around, impeding the use of the proboscis. I find the whole experience very emotional as +Wildflower mentioned. Thanks so much for the video. You've presented some arguments for different options I had not considered. This helped make my decision much easier to make. Thanks again !!
Very sorry this happened, but I'm pleased that you found new ways of looking at the options and came to an informed choice. That was, in the end, the goal of the video, and while it's an uncomfortable situation, hopefully it was somewhat less uncomfortable than it would have been otherwise.
So VERY lovely to see a man with such compassion. I work in Dog Rescue, am familiar with Dog Rescues (and those who pledge, share, foster, transport, advocate) all over the country. Very few involved are men. HOWEVER let me say, when there is a disaster (flood/tornado) or something, we certainly do see men coming out to help. Just wish they helped as much with the daily DOG-overpopulation issues. Millions are euthanized ever year in kill shelters. ADOPT, don't $hop.
So glad to find your channel, am subscribed now. Found a monarch today in the wild that appears unable to fly and even a bit uneasy on feet/legs. Wings look great, with my limited experience anyway. Put it on some thawed frozen banana and milkweed, drank heartily and immediately. Storm is in progress so I tucked it in the greenhouse with echinacea where it can be dry and protected to just... wait and see? If it is newly emerged might it just take some time?
If the wings look relatively in tact and not damaged, sometimes, yes, Monarchs that don't seem able to fly can eventually figure it out. From my experience, it usually only takes a day, though, when this happens. I would suppose that multiple days could be a possibility. If you are comfortable caring for it and seeing if in a few days it's starts flying, that would be probably the optimal option. If it never ends up flying, though, you'll have to make a decision as to one of the options in this video (or perhaps other options that exist if you find one you prefer). I wish the lil' guy/gal luck!
MrLundScience Thank you thank you thank you 🙏🏼 It is with tears of joy and gratitude that I can report: It took to flight yesterday mid morning after a safe night amidst the carrot tops in the greenhouse. I heard flapping, ferocious flapping against the side, but not much height. Offered it the honey solution and when I pulled back to keep the feet out it popped up onto my shoulder! You have encouraged me and helped us both. Grace to you, this lil one (m or f, I have no clue, haha) is in the wild now!
I was thinking about what you were saying about options and possibly I have another there are conservation projects you could donate a butterfly to such as Niagara Falls and they look after them house them and such and they can be used as a ambassador and that way you are also giving them a chance as well and they will be around lots of other butterfly’s... and educate others as well..
If there is such a local area that would take it in, that's certainly an option. However, from what I understand of butterfly houses (which, admittedly, may be different than what you are describing) they are not very open to taking in foreign butterflies, as they may be carrying disease or other infectious pathogens that could spread to the others they already have and maintain. And offering them up one that has a deformity or other problems likely wouldn't boost their confidence that it doesn't have something going on with it. No harm in asking, though, I suppose.
Thank you so much for making this video. It is really valuable information and you raise some points that people may have never considered. The' lesson for predators" argument is one I had never considered. I have always kept and cared for my disabled monarchs, even if they are sick...but I don't keep them in cages. I have flower plants available and supplement them with homemade nectar. One thing I want to point out: you do NOT have to feed them multiple times a day. As long as their abdomen gets plump after they eat and they eat til they go potty, they are full. A typical feed should take several minutes when handfeeding. Monitor the butterfly's belly for signs of thinning and darker waste means they are more dehydrated. You can even save split proboscis monarchs if you provide a nectar reservoir! If you do this, you can get away with every other day if needed....so people with jobs can feed am or pm, or both if they want to, but the monarch will not suffer going 8 hours without food. Consider how much non-nectar-plant land they fly over. In Nature, sometimes they go days with nothing to eat.
All true. I suppose "need" (if I used that word) is too strong of a word. I feed them when they are hungry, it would seem, and try to keep it similar to nature, but certainly there are those rainy days they experience out there where they may not get any food for a day or two. Glad to see you again on here!
Very informative video. One of ours has a deformed wing. :( We'll take the nature approach and let him enjoy his days out in nature where it should be. Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you so much for your videos. We are new to the world of monarchs and have a female who eclosed and looks normal but can't fly. I put her in our new 10'x10'x7' enclosure where she has a ton of different plants and trees to explore. My wife made a 4 to 1 sugar solution for her and we will care for her until she can fly or passes. Thanks again for all your help.
As have I. That's still something I want to explore, but when I've seen others do it, I haven't seen them talk about or test out how lasting the methods are. I want to try and find a way that I can provide information on how durable the repair is, since there's different ways of doing it. Thus, we could say it's still in the "R&D" stage for me.
A few thoughts about wing or partial wing replacement: you have to be willing to remove and store wings from deceased Monarchs ahead of time, to be prepared for such an event. That means you will probably get them from recent dead or euthanized in freezer Bflies that had no quality of Bfly life - like, deformed in parts, or wing movement too weakened by unknown causes to allow the Bfly to function in any reasonable life, etc. Then, consider the recipient Bfly. My personal guideline is when I have a robust Bfly, who otherwise seems healthy, really seems to try persistently to fly, and has a wing damaged or deformed that can be a straight forward swap with a normal replacement part, then, the procedure is worth it because it will have a very high potential to be successful. You have to study up on how to do this and have the tools recommended and plan it out thoroughly. I have to say that each time I’ve done this, when the robust butterfly all of a sudden has a balanced body/wings and then after drying (glue) and resting, he takes off - up, up and away - it is really a joyful moment. My mind always pictures the little Bfly exclaiming to himself and the world “Uh, oh, Wow ! I don’t know what happened but now I’m whole and I can FLY !!!”.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate this video which I found after googling what to do when a monarch can't fly, a situation I am facing with a heavy heart. I do not raise monarchs indoors but I provide a natural habitat for them by growing milkweed and putting up a structure for them to form a chrysalis on. I usually only get a couple every year as my milkweed patch is still quite small, but this year I had 16 successfully form a chrysalis! Sadly, of these I had 2 that never hatched and 3 monarchs emerged with wing deformities that resulted in them not being able to fly. It baffles me as the chrysalides were undisturbed, and seeing the monarchs unable to fly has been so heartbreaking and distressing. I wanted to know what the options were, if perhaps there was some way I could help them. Hearing these three options, I will go with #2: placing them gently among the flowers in my yard, to play their role in nature. Thank you so much for covering this very difficult situation, your compassionate approach combined with the logical presentation of the options has helped immensely.
Returning to this video four years later: had six of this year's 12 chrysalids emerge at the worst possible time, all under an awning but we just had the remnants of hurricane Helene in our area. I saw at least one fly away successfully once the rain let up, but found the remnants of others who had tried to fly off in the worst of it and got caught in the downpours 😢 One, however, was still alive but thoroughly soaked in a puddle on my driveway, and likely has wing damage. I gently put it back under the awning to dry out, and 5 hours later still no flight, so it climbed onto my hand and I moved it to a flower source, where it can at least experience the post-storm sun, breeze, and nectar as best it can. Breaks my heart, but rewatching your video was again a great comfort.
Thank you for this information. I found a beautiful butterfly with a missing wing. My heart broke, so I brought it home. I looked up a few things and thankfully I came across your video.
Thank you for the video. First time with a proper milkweed area in our small garden and thus any significant monarchs, and when we encountered our issue, I found your video. We are in the Northeast- VA area, so it is getting rather chilly. We have a monarch that seemed to not have problems as caterpillar or with the chrysalis, but the hatched butterfly is not flying (couple of days now). At one point it seemed to have been able to get from one patch of flowers to a tall sunflower, but it only happened a couple of times- and I found it the next day fallen off the sunflower and in a pot underneath. I even thought at first that it may be dead, but she seemed to perk up when I got her out. She ate some sugar water,, and i left her to sit in the sun for a while with some flowers and sugar water as options. As there was no change and it was not cold but certainly chilly, I finally brought her in to see if a warm space would help for a bit. She hung on the netting upside down for a while- and throught the night. I had placed some food, but did not see her eat. Next day she was eating some of the sugar water and even tested out a raspberry, but was crawling almost sideways and somewhat limping and dragging herself around. The wings seem fine, but she leans to the side, doesn't really open them, and seems almost as if she is bottom heavy. This has now continued. She has been eating but it is getting cold- and it is towards the tail end of when they should be heading out to migrate :( We started to bring her in at night and take her out during the day, but she will not fly anywhere. Just scrambles around. Shes fallen on her back a few times now and I've had to get her up. I've taken her outside to sit on some flowers and get some air during the day but she doesn't seem to enjoy the wind- and it will blow her over sometimes. I had really hoped she may get her bearings and fly but no such luck. So I guess we are keeping her, but I really hope we didnt do anything to harm her chances. As she is our current and only monarch, her name is Elizabeth and she lives in a herb dryer. Finally got her enclosure today.
I think you're so much for your video I found it very informative. This is my first year quasi raising monarchs. This means we had one milkweed plant caterpillars ate it and I started with 13 super hungry caterpillars. Of course, I had to buy more Milkweeds...then I had 58 lol now it's well over 100 raised and about 40 Milkweeds. Now I'm down to my last caterpillar and the last 3 cocoons have come out with defective wings. They cocooned on the outside of our bay storage doors. Very slippery. They are falling as soon as they come out. I picked up the last 3 and they can't fly. Is there anything at all I can do to help? So sad. How can I remove the cocoons safely and hang like I see you've done in your video? Thank you for you time.
Oh btw, i currently have 30 chrysalis that are almost completely emerged with healthy butterflies and only 1 fell. So glad i didn't have another run in with OE this time.
Wow...thanks for that. I always feel like I'm long winded. I go into many details, though, as I want to try and be thorough, and troubleshoot questions that might come up by answering them ahead of time. I write a script or list of the points I want to bring up, and then try to think of what questions might arise because of the topic and cover that as well. So, thank you for that feedback. At times, I've thought about reducing the amount of information, but usually side against it. Try to flesh out most of the topic the first time in the video so there's less of a need for those points to be brought up in future ones.
I had a butterfly that had one set of the wings all messed up but after a few days of feeding it and caring for it he was able to fly so I released him
Thank you for this video. I stopped bringing my eggs in because I had one that wouldn’t fly and wouldn’t eat and after a few days I had to make a decision. So, I’m so thankful to hear your reasoning and rationales. And you handled the discussion very sensitivity. I still have a TON of milkweed and if the lizards are bad I will bring in eggs, but I’ve decided to be more hands off in my monarch support. But right now I have one that eclosed and can’t fly. I found him flopping around in the grass. So that was what led me to your video. I like how you explained that even though he can’t fly he still has a purpose for his little life in possibly teaching the birds not to eat things that look like him! I believe there is a purpose for all things. We just don’t always have the privilege of knowing that purpose. Your explanation of “option 2” makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you again for the video.
I'm glad that you were able to consider the options and find one that you were most comfortable with. It's like having to choose the lesser of bad options for a bad situation. Your compassion for the animal is definitely appreciated!
Thank you so much for this video. I have been helping/raising and releasing monarchs for over two years, this was the first season I had a monarch emerge with a deformity to her wing, unable to fly and I live in New Hampshire. I was unsure what to do, but I allowed myself to follow my heart I released and placed her on some sedum in my garden, after I fed her honey water per your recommendation. She is free with a belly full of honey water, who knows what will happen to her, but I have peace knowing that I did all that I could to help the monarchs and keeping with as Nature intended! Thank you for ALL your videos!
As many others have said before me, thank you for this video. It has been a helpful resource for me, having raised monarchs for the first time this spring. I successfully released 58 healthy butterflies but one became stuck in its chrysalis and its wings did not have a chance to expand (it died after 1 day), and another's chrysalis fell and was damaged. That one emerged with crumpled wings and unable to fly. I fed it honey water twice a day, gave it as much outdoor time as possible, and kept it in a butterfly enclosure in my home at night. It was very strong-willed and tried its best to fly every day. I hope I gave it the best life possible but it is hard to know what's right. Sadly, it died yesterday after exactly three weeks of life. I had become used to having the little critter around :( but it was heartbreaking to see it struggle and not be able to live a natural butterfly life. Thanks again for this video, which is a great resource for anyone encountering this situation. Best wishes from Miami, Florida.
I found comfort in your comments. I too had a "strong-willed" butterfly with damaged wings. I did not want her to become fodder for the numerous Brown Anole lizards that are ubiquitous in Hawaii gardens. So I kept her in an enclosure and fed her honey water, 2-3 times a day. She lasted 4 weeks. The last day, she was too weak to extend her probocis on her own. I helped extend it and she took her last meal. I felt it was time to euthanize. I placed her on a bed of flowers and then into the freezer. I buried her in a crown flower leaf coffin yesterday. With tears running down my face, I sent her off to butterfly heaven.
This video helps me to take care of Monarch butterfly chrysalis and butterflies very much. We had 6 caterpillars this spring, and we found 3 chrysalis in our backyard. One hatched and flew away. There is one which does not make any progress of darkening its color. It's been more than a week. We'll keep watching it.
Only option 2, the moarc has a purpose, even if it is a short life, respecting freedom is a virtue. We expect the best always but a life in jail or death without a purpose doesn't seem honourable or majestic enough for a monarc.
Interesting video! I too had to make these tough decisions from time to time. But only a handful of times I had the unique opportunity of letting deformed monarch butterflies serve their purpose. A couple of times during 'hatching phase' a male and female hatched with wing deformities. I kept em together and a couple of hours later they began mating. I guess they decided to skip the mating rituals and went for it. I kept them fed and safe while they were attached. When they detached I put the female on a potted milkweed plant and she had laid almost all of her eggs on that one milkweed plant. The male monarch I put him outside on top of a flower and let nature take its course. Days later I found the female monarch dead laying on top of the soil of the potted milkweed. We can always try to find a solution for a good ending.
Bro! Only had to come across this situation to end up watching this video! GREAT VIDEO!!! I would've never know what to do with my Flightless Gulf Fritillary... It hatched and it felt, unfortunately I came to realize this several hours after, and its wings never made it. Disappointed, Cause I really Wanted to take some Good-HD-Pictures of it after the long wait... guess its gonna have to be at another time, and will let nature do its thing. Thanks Mr. Lund, keep up the good work!
Our first monarch ever came out of the chrysalis this morning and we thought she flew away but sadly found her a few hours later on the ground with warped and kinda crumpled wings... so sad! Our daughter has been checking them daily and I don't have the heart to tell her she probably will never fly. :(
As you've probably guessed, our numbers here in the West are way down. I've only had 1 male visit my patch and that was just before fires started and then 1 female in our small Oregon town. It will be interesting to see the numbers this winter on the numbers overwintering in CA. Our largest numbers are usually in the Pismo State Beach area in the dense eucalyptus grove. Off to watch your video. OK, well done as usual. I've always released my handicapped monarchs. I've only experienced those that fall during that filling stage. Although I've had a few where fluid has dripped out for no visible reason. We have enough flowers over the summer to support them. Next, a female might still have an opportunity to receive a male and be productive. I keep my large milkweed patch healthy from May until Sept. If someone needs to place their handicapped monarch in a community garden, the chance for viable milkweed is slim. The major threat to the monarch that's unable to fly is predatory insects around the garden, like the crab spider etc.
Thanks David. Sorry to hear about the numbers in CA, but I would imagine wildfires would have to have some effect. Gosh, I hope that ends soon. As for the options to take, I can easily see why someone would choose one above the other two based on personal preference. Another comment below discussed how in the past, they've tried option #1, and the butterfly, trying to fly all the time, ended up damaging its wings severely. Meanwhile, in option #2, that person would see the Monarch over the course of days in the yard, trying to fly and always struggling. They said that in the end, both situations ended up resulting in option #3. None of it is a good situation to be in, and none of the options are ideal, unfortunately.
@@MrLundScience Thank you Mr. LundScience, this is the best information I have found on the subject, serious, realistic, intelligent and compassionate. Since I started planting milkweed a few years back (here in Southern California) I have been seeing the miracle of metamorphosis up close, but we have had two that have appeared in the yard with crumpled wings, the first one I know fell when it emerged. I fed it oranges sliced which it ate greedily and would climb up on them and suck till finished. At night I covered it with a mesh bowl which I fastened in the ground inverted to protect from possible rodents and fastened in the ground inside it an artificial stem which it climbed up on to spend the night. It would crawl to the sunlight during the day, suck the fruit to eat, and climb on the perch at night. It lasted about 2 weeks until a predator apparently took it during the day. Now a year or two later a similar one appeared in the yard yesterday. I may just leave it and let nature take its course. Both of these came out of the chrysalis in winter, I am actually surprised at how many caterpillars and chrysallis we have in December, previously I had thought monarchs would migrate perhaps to Mexico for the winter but we have had many. I'm concerned if maybe my not cutting back the milkweed after summer encourages them to reproduce butterflies that can't survive because of the winter. But thank you so much for your thoughtful video.
This is my second year as a Monarch Guardian. Just yesterday I had a female fall during eclose. I did not witness it, so I'm unsure if it was due to a leg caught or what. Long story short, I managed to help her so she did fully inflate her wings, and they are 99% visually perfect and seem to be functioning as far as flapping. Yet she still can't seem to take wing. I am so very appreciative that you did make this video because you offered a practical alternative I did not find elsewhere when looking for what else I can do besides keep her for her life cycle or euthanize. I am currently a bit overwhelmed since I'm near 7 times the number I raised and released last year, so the pet option seemed daunting. I really do not want to euthanize. So thank you for this third option. While watching this video, I did think of a fourth (and this may have been one of the "others" you mentioned but did not cover, and someone may have even suggested it below but I don't have time to read through them all to see, so apologies if someone has), which is to check with my local library and see if they wanted to schedule one of their special animal visits where I could bring her and talk to the children about Monarchs and explain some possibilities of what went wrong. We don't have year round schools here, or I'd look into that as well. Later today, I will try feeding her honey water to see if that helps her regain the energy lost trying to right herself before I got her in position on my finger. I have read cases where even one day's worth of feeding gave them the boost they needed to fly normally. I am hoping that will be enough, but if not I will releasing her soon if the library says they can't fit it in. Even if she doesn't make it to her full potential life span outdoors, I'll have some comfort knowing she may serve as a lesson to a predator that saves another healthier Monarch later. Thank you.
Certainly finding a way to allow the Monarch to benefit the cause in some fashion is an honorable option. I suppose if you're still caring for it, though, whether you bring it to school or not, I see that as the "home care" option, if you want to call it that. Just a variance of it. I've euthanized two Monarchs before. It's sad. But still, to make "the best" of it, I thawed them, pinned, spread, and mounted them. Once preserved, these are the two that I use with my Science Olympiad students, and others, to learn a bit more about their anatomy and other details. If we can find a benefit, that always helps make it a better situation. Perhaps still not a good one, but a better one than it would be otherwise. Sorry that this happened.
Thank you for making this video. This is a conversation that I have had to deal with by myself for the past few days. I came across a male Monarch yesterday missing his whole top right wing and has about 40% of his lower right. I tried to come into contact with a butterfly santuary where I live for help, and they directed me to the animal department for my phone call to be ignored. So I am at a crossroad with caring for him or releasing him back where I found him in the first place. It is troubling because I can see his want to fly, he looks at his missing wing a lot. I haven't come to a full conclusion yet on what to do, I believe in returning him, on the other hand, I fear that his death will come from the heat of the sun rather than an animal. still having trouble, but the way you outline these options just gives me a perspective to work on making me feel less alone in my way of thinking. yeah.. Thank you.
As there's no easy or ideal option, it's a topic not everyone wishes to discuss. Those tend to be the ones most worth a discussion, though. Thus, I decided to tackle it. I'm sorry that you've found yourself in this position, but I hope the video can help with whichever choice you make. Regardless of the option you go for, thank you for your compassion towards this individual, for sure.
Marilyn Russell 2 days ago @MrLundScience Thank you Mr. LundScience, this is the best information I have found on the subject, serious, realistic, intelligent and compassionate. Since I started planting milkweed a few years back (here in Southern California) I have been seeing the miracle of metamorphosis up close, but we have had two that have appeared in the yard with crumpled wings, the first one I know fell when it emerged. I fed it oranges sliced (because I hadn't yet seen your video) which it ate greedily and would climb up on them and suck till finished. At night I covered it with a mesh bowl which I fastened in the ground inverted to protect from possible rodents and fastened in the ground inside it an artificial stem which it climbed up on to spend the night. It would crawl to the sunlight during the day, suck the fruit to eat, and climb on the perch at night. It lasted about 2 weeks until a predator apparently took it during the day. Now a year or two later a similar one appeared in the yard yesterday. I may just leave it and let nature take its course. Both of these came out of the chrysalis in winter, I am actually surprised at how many caterpillars and chrysallis we have in December, previously I had thought monarchs would migrate perhaps to Mexico for the winter but we have had many. I'm concerned if maybe my not cutting back the milkweed after summer encourages them to reproduce butterflies that can't survive because of the winter. Do you have any thoughts on this question? But thank you so much for your thoughtful video.
Greetings Marilyn, and thank you first and foremost for you compassion for these animals! It's a tough call as to whether or not the milkweed should be cut back. My first impulse would be to not cut it back and let nature do what it does. Even in Michigan, we get "late" Monarchs where they seem to be pretty late to the Mexico migration (though not nearly as late as December). This is because a female that has been fertilized, even late in the season, still has that impulse to lay her eggs, and she will. Though not conscious of it, she's just playing the numbers, and if of the 300+ eggs she lays, only one of them make it to Mexico, well, her genes are still "in the game" so to speak. People have asked me who find Monarchs very late in the season here east of the Rockies, should they or shouldn't they release Monarchs when they know that there's a cold spell on the way and low temperatures could cause them to freeze on their way south. In such cases, I always would say that releasing must be done. If released, though very small, it still has a chance to stay in the gene pool and be a reproductive adult. If not released, it has a zero chance for that. In your case, though, things are a bit different. If the weather/temperatures are still allowing milkweed to be present, and the female is choosing to lay her eggs there, she's definitely deciding that her offspring should have a chance to grow up there. But when we factor human caused Climate Change, is it possible that warmer temperatures are causing milkweed to still be present (on average) than would be if it weren't for the warmer temperatures? If so, are we, as a species, indirectly causing Monarchs to stave off migration due to milkweed still be present? And if that's the case, cutting back milkweed may be something that would encourage her to not lay eggs and move on. It's a tough call. If I were in the same situation as you, I suppose, though not 100% confident with my choice, I'd not cut back the milkweed. The reason being, the number one reason Monarchs are declining in numbers, as far as the data can tell us at this point, is for lack of milkweed habitat. So, having more milkweed and more options to lay the eggs is better than less. Something else to consider is that perhaps of the 300 or so eggs that an adult female will lay, perhaps her first 275 had already been laid at earlier times. Perhaps many of her offspring were already on their way to being adults at an earlier time, and she already scored well in this genetic game. Perhaps the eggs/caterpillars/chrysalides you're encountering were just "extra" for that female or females. Perhaps they were some of the last eggs she laid that don't normally have as good of a chance as earlier ones anyway. But from the female Monarch perspective, the eggs she has that aren't laid have zero chance of making it to an adult, so might as well lay them if even late in the season, and hope for the best. Again, I wouldn't claim that this is the best answer, but it's what I would likely choose to do if in your situation. Good luck!
@@MrLundScience I have an important update on this topic, and thank you so much for your thoughtful and thorough reply. But I need now to add that I have discovered from the Xerxes Society that in California, a non-native to CA. milkweed known as Tropical Milkweed has been widely sold and it remains and blooms all year round, which mine does. They say this encourages the monarch to breed when it should not, and in addition, because the same leaves are used over and over through the years, it carries an overload of parasites (OE). This winter I have now seen two with misshapen wings. They said the native milkweed would die back in Fall and then regrow at the appropriate time. They advise if it is Tropical Milkweed in California, to cut it back to the ground at the end of Fall or possible twice a year. And they advise that people not grow Tropical Milkweed in California, but to grow native milkweed.
Definitely worthy information. Environmental activism is always delicate, as we don't want to accidentally cause new problems while trying to help a different one. The ecosystem will respond with no care for what our intentions were. So, it might seem logical to some to use a type of Milkweed that is said to be "preferred" by the Monarchs without having a full picture as to what other consequences its use may have. Ecology is like weather - it always is a complex system, and thus, one that is very difficult to predict when a change occurs. I have been aware of this Tropical Milkweed issue for about a year and a half now, and some have asked that I make a video on the topic. However, doing the research to make a quality video can take time, and further, as I didn't know all of the ins and outs of it (and still don't claim to), there was plenty of research to be done. I'd never want to make a video where this Michigan boy is telling those in California or Arizona what they are supposed to be doing. I think that'd look pretentious. Still, I've looked into this a lot in the last year, and am pretty sure I'm ready to weigh in on it this summer. My plans for the next season include focusing more on the relationship between Monarchs and the Milkweed they feed from, and what details are there that have yet to be covered. So, while I can't promise it, likely a Tropical Milkweed video is on the horizon.
I am having this issue now with a butterfly. I released 4 butterflies today, and noticed one was struggling a little. It managed to fly, but was flying low to the ground and kept on stopping on the fence, the car, the side of the house. I left the butterfly alone thinking it will just take this one a little longer. Tonight my husband and I come home and the monarch is waiting for us on our front door. We tried to get it to fly, but poor thing just couldn't fly right. Opened our door, butterfly flew in and landed in our turtle tank. I immediately fished it out of the water, and I have the butterfly back in our indoor enclosure for tonight. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do yet. I am at home for the next month recovering from knee surgery, so I do have some extra time on my hands.
Wait another day, try a few more times, if nothing improves than it's probably too late😭 You are the most recent comment, so i also have a question, if it's ok with you? I have a beautiful monarch, and he is not able to fly. It almost seems like his wings are paralyzed. other than that, he seems fine, but his wings are stuck open I'm not sure what 2 do...
Thanks so much for your videos. We just had a monarch hatch yesterday on our front porch (from nature, we are not raising them but we plant milkweed for them) and it was on the ground crumpled and struggling to survive. My first thought was to let nature take its course. But after I saw it was still alive last night, my heart broke and I had to help it. Its wings are badly deformed but hes hanging in there. I fed it some sugar water and mango based on your feeding video (so helpful!) He ate but i dont think he's doing well. He's barely moving. I may choose option 2 and maybe let him be the one that teaches the birds a lesson. As heartbreaking as that sounds, I know nature has to run its course and it is what it is. Now I just need to figure out what's the best flower to place him on....
Thank you for making this informative video. I have been plagued with many monarchs being malformed and crimped wings .I have been struggling on what to do as it has been very difficult to get one viable adult out of 15 catapillers. I would like to get more information on the parasites and how to promote better health for this majestic beauty.
If you search into TH-cam "OE Parasite" multiple videos come up. Some are mine, but there's plenty of others that are very informative as well. Good luck!
Thank you for making this video! I was able to release 18 Monarch butterflies a month ago here in Texas. However # 19 emerged with crumpled wings and unfortunately he has been unable to fly away. I've kept him in the laundry basket I raised the caterpillars in and have been feeding him. I'm sticking firmly with option one even though it is time consuming. I feel like I can't choose any other option.
Thank you so much for this video. I have a baby with deformed wings and didn't know what to do. This is so heartbreaking and I think I will leave them outside in the future and just continue to plant lots of milkweed😭😭😭😭😭
For some people there may be one more option, although not everyone would have it. I live close to the Detroit Zoo which has a wonderful butterfly sanctuary. If this situation presented itself I would approach the zoo and see it they would take in the butterfly. It would provide a great living condition with other butterflies to socialize with and would be safe. I have not had to do this but there are a number of places that have created butterfly sanctuaries. Perhaps it may be an option to consider.
That's not too bad of an idea, but I'm willing to bet that they wouldn't take it in for fear (and a warranted one) of some type of pathogen being transferred into their butterfly house. It's not normal, and thus, not a risk to let people in to see the butterflies, but letting in an external butterfly presents risk. And as the time and resources put in to their own is likely a high enough cost, I doubt they'd risk it. And we're talking about just normal looking ones. If your butterfly has something like crumpled wings, a disfigurement, or some other visible situation that prevents it from flying, they'd easily see this as a risk. You could always call and ask, but I'm guessing it'd be a "no", and they'd likely refer you to a DNR nature center. (I'm guessing too, at the DNR, they'd probably first offer one of these three options... Again, just guessing. I don't claim to know this. But, it's what I'd predict.)
They more than likely won't take it. I live in TX a lot of times I have Monarchs come though in October that for whatever reason they lay eggs, they eat, pupate and hatch or eclose in November sometimes December when it's too late to release due to weather. I've asked the butterfly house in Houston "Cockrell Butterfly Center" if they would take them in. They've said they'll take them but they won't provide milkweed for eggs and they won't care for damaged butterflies. I don't think it's much of a fear for parasites, because I believe they're getting the exotic butterflies from a international supplier, but a lack of time in order to care for a damaged butterfly
Robert Gotshall I tried that a few years ago... I had a monarch I raised with wing problems and I also found a monarch that was still alive but had severely damaged wings... I made the mistake of taking them to the zoo near me where a friend of mine was working over the summer at the time...... they had a beautiful butterfly sanctuary.... my friend watched her coworker feed them to a reptile at the zoo. Of course I was not there to confirm but my friend was in tears when she told me. Of course that was just the way of That zoo and not all zoos.
You are right, Rich. As a follow up. I just happen to have this condition present itself today (8/15/18). A chrysalis was attached to a side wall of one of my containers and resulted in a flat area of the chrysalis. This resulted in a damaged wing and antenna. Based on what I feel and said above, I drove to the Detroit Zoo and had a conversation, regarding this situation, with Stephen (the person in charged of the butterfly house at the zoo). He gave me his time to explain that: due to an invasive species law ( we only briefly discussed this but I believe it on a federal level), they do not take in from other than their sources. It is not the butterfly itself but what it may have that could affect the environment in the butterfly house. One interesting fact is that they get their chrysalises from Costa Rica and El Salvador. They also do not have any monarchs - which is interesting. Stephen was a wealth of information regarding environmental invasive situations and the history of the same. This situation may exist at a number of locations due to regulations alone. detroitzoo.org/animals/zoo-animals/butterfly/
That is pretty interesting as far as their butterfly source, but also makes sense as I would assume people at the zoo wish to see the exotics. Hopefully if we continue our efforts, Monarchs never become an exotic to North America. But, yeah, I'm not surprised they wouldn't take it. It is an unknown to them, and what types of pathogens it could have. While zoos aren't all about the money, they must see taking in an unknown as a costly risk, as those butterfly houses have plenty of money invested in their insects.
Wow!! Thank you so much for this I’ve been kinda new at this whole thing ..first it was the wasps and maybe flies..attacking the caterpillars...then I had 2 fully develop and born and launched into the world ...well this morning our newest beauty not only has a much smaller wing but a front leg that seems damaged ...I’m sooo sad Thanks for doing these videos and all the work you do. At this point not sure what I’ll do w this latest beauty 😭
I’m so sorry 😐. My first season too! Released two beauties and my next 9 may have had one cool night I didn’t bring inside! They have some black spots:(
Hi, it’s not easy, and I was so sorry to read how you both had to experience this. I have been there twice myself, and now facing this possibly for a third time, which is why I returned to this video today. But note that it is only three times in 3 seasons- (3 years and with over about 250+ healthy ones released)- that a MB emerged and ultimately was unable to fly, each w/ different circumstances, all 3 leaving me with tough decisions to make. Again all with different answers. It ultimately of course is up to you, like me, to decide. I could not have done it without Mr. R. Lund. I get it. It was so bad, and I actually wasn’t sure if I could go through the chance of having to lose one again, partially blaming myself, but uncertain, though I know that we do the best we can as long as we are constantly improving and learning about techniques wild-rearing these beauties. It’s not like we just jump into this without some good basic knowledge.I keep in mind that only 5% - maybe between 5-10% tops- of them in the wild even survive to become adult butterflies. Once in this past early spring I spotted the 1st mother Monarch Butterfly gliding among the garden’s tiny, newly sprouting Common Milkweed, and was stunned to see her stopping on each leaf and plant, carefully laying new shimmering eggs! I was very excited, and that was it, I began anew. I have kept data on the numbers of so many healthy MBs that I have released this season, but honestly I have been too busy to tally how many; I know it’s more than ever before and it kept me busy but I kept up fine, especially since I have been sequestered and focused at home these past months, which is why I decided to go for it. This this weekend I am hopefully releasing the last very 3 or 4 adult MB from the last group of close to 100. Be sure btw to see his videos about how to feed a MB that cannot fly, and the another around euthanasia. He never tells anyone what they should or should not do, but offers information to better enable others to decide what to do. This is what I think I admire most about him. OK now- I cannot answer for him, to whom I give so much credit for helping with outstanding videos and sense of compassion, but I noticed that he does sometimes try to check in and answer questions; also you may see his more recent activity by scanning through some of his other videos including the more recent one 2019 about wild-rearing MBs outdoors. You may want to follow him on his Instagram account, too. He did note in one of his TH-cam videos that he hadn’t been here as much as he would truly like to - 2020- since the pandemic of course greatly impacted him, his work at school, and his students, meaning spending lots of needed important time on that work. Best to you, stay safe, he would surely say thank you for doing what you can do, plant milkweed, and stay tuned!
Thanks for this video as a newbie to butterflies im going through this with one right now that’s literally fighting to live! But can’t get its wings to quite open
you are so correct about option number one i´m currently taking care of a monarch butterfly and it had fallen when it hatched from its chrysalis and me and my sister had found it on the ground and we took it in and some times i take it outside she really likes to go outside
Lund i absolutely live your knowledge with all this and my wife and I raise these beautiful butterflies and we are facing a first time wing break but watched videos ppl fixing them with super glue using other wings from those who where not as fortunate would there be any way to get in personal contact with you to share a picture of the broken wing to see if this would be easier to line up the good wing and snip it to match them both since it looks less the 40% broken or should we try the procedure fixing the wing. Thanks so much and my wife and I absolutely love your videos again bud. Lots of knowledge you give.
We have a bunch of cocoons in our patio. Today we noticed a butterfly on its back on the floor. We think he had fallen off of its chrysalis while it was pumping fluid. We kept flipping it over onto its feet but I thinks it’s wings were injured. Glad we found this video bc we wanted to help it. We ended up putting the butter fly on a flower so it could enjoy nature while it can.
Found a monarch that is most definitely unable to fly in my backyard 4-5 hours ago now. I’ve been hanging out in the backyard with it, its full of energy, and more than happy to eat, but it has made absolutely no progress with flying more than an inch or two before summersaulting around in the air & death spiraling into a very painful to watch crash landing, every time. It had rained pretty heavily yesterday so when I found him struggling on my lawn I was hoping he just needed to try off, but it’s clear now that is not the case. Since I just happened upon it, I’m very ill prepared. This video popped up as one of the first results when searching for how to handle a flightless monarch on Bing. I’ve been trying my best to help the little guy out since 11:45am (ish) this morning with his energy being the only thing seeing improvement. Thank you for posting this, it’s relieving to know that there really is just only so much I can do & he isn’t just suffering due to my ignorance. I can finally take a breath.
Thank you so much for being a good human ☺️
I just had this situation and it about killed me! I had a female that couldn't fly so I fed her well and let her go in the am,, put her on a nice cluster of flowers to let her enjoy a "normal" life. I found her on the lawn the next day, brought her in fed her again and let her go to let nature take its course. I found her two days later in the coils of the hose. It really was too late. But I thought I could feed her and just keep her in in the evenings and out during the day on plants inside some netting. She wouldn't eat and just got weaker and weaker. It was heartbreaking. She finally passed two days later and I buried her under the milkweed she was born on. Thank you for your videos and the inspiration. So far I've release 22 with 33 and 24 to go. I live in East Central Florida so this weekend I will be cutting my milkweed back to discourage any more eggs. I'm hoping to be confident enough next year to tag my "kids". Thank you for your videos I've learned so much.
Hello from another Monarch lover in Port Orange Fl. I now have one that fell during enclose and the wing is malformed. I am feeding him and hoping he at least lives a decent life.
@@fishingpinky3165l had one female with closed wings . l had her as a pet for 6 weeks .
Feed her on a cotton ball in the house put it in a small lid.
I made Willow a netting enclosure to wrap around milkweed out side so she could enjoy the flowers and walk around and be safe. I couldnt believe it sure started laying unfertalized eggs all over the plants. She was so happy. I did spend alot of time with her.Willow even went camping with us in our RV .😂 came home and lived her life a complete 6 weeks. I cried as she got weaker. She would turn her head and look at me as if to speak her gratefulness.
Oh goodness. That’s heart breaking. All of mine flew high and out of sight quickly except for one. I’ve noticed his wing isn’t right. It’s sort of bent I think. I put it back in the enclosure on some flowers and it’s hanging at the top of the cage I’m going to try again tomorrow
How about replacing the wing, fixing the wing there are videos on it I just did it for one of my butterflies today and she's fine flying around
Awhhh man 🤧 I found one today that definitely had something wrong with its right wing and it’s quite obvious it’s having trouble flying .. I took it home to feed but it’s getting really cold here in Toronto Canada as it’s October now :( .. do you think I can make it a decent enclosure so that it can have a decent life until it passes?
Thank You. I’m raising monarchs and the last batch had a few with wing problems. I’ve actually handled things the same way you describe. One died and the others were ok in a few days. I hand fed one of them constantly and let him just hang out on the flowers. They walked just fine and enjoyed walking the screens. They were enclosed in my patio. But still unable to Fly.
Then one day when I brought it outside it took flight. I was cheering it on. It went pretty high then came back circling all over the garden and fluttering around my head as if she was saying thanks. I’ll never forget that butterfly
There is a 4th option. Many years ago, I had a male, Pete, who eclosed with one bent forewing - otherwise he was perfect. I kept him in an outdoor enclosure, fed him Gatorade and made sure he had fresh flowers. After work each day, I would take him out in the garden and put him on flowers. He lived for 5 weeks in this manner. It was sad, but I didn't know what else to do and - at that point - had never had to euthanize a butterfly. Much later, I discovered a video about REPLACING a butterfly wing, so when I found a dead monarch on my lawn, I kept it in my freezer. In time I had another with a bent wing and, following the directions in the video, I replaced it with one of my frozen wings. That butterfly flew! In fact, I used another monarch wing to replace a broken wing on a giant swallowtail that I'd raised. Those butterflies are NOT calm and laid back like monarchs - when they want to go, they'll beat themselves up. I first tried splinting the cracked wing, but the light cardboard splint was too heavy. So I cut a piece of monarch wing to fit the shape of the swallowtail wing, glued it and he flew off. A frankenfly that wouldn't look good to a mate to be sure, but he was able to go.
There is an emotional side to this entire process... anticipation, hope, joy, wonder, and the sadness of letting them go, even when everything goes perfectly. Having the validation of some options can help people feel a lot less guilty when something unsavory needs to be done. Would love you to share more of that wonder and leave us with uplifting ideas, even on the difficult subjects. Thank you for guiding us through the dark side, so we don't have to do it alone. Now go inspire us some more and remind us why it is so worth the risk to raise something so fragile, yet so amazing. :)
I'll attempt to do my best.
In my case, I'm happy when I see them go, I have helped them so it's time to fly away.
Amen!
Hope to see more too!!
@@MrLundScience what is the name of the primate glue that you used to hang the chrysalis and where do I get it?
I ordered a natural one online but it's going to be 4 days before it comes in the mail and I just used Elmer's wood glue out of pure desperation and it's hanging pretty good I just hope that it doesn't toxify my chrysalis?
@@debbiyvettefontaine2095 I think he was referring to "Gorilla" brand glue.
I actually think it’s incredibly important to discuss this circumstance. After a period of time if one continues to raise monarchs, they will have to make this decision. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks so much for making this video. Sadly, I am faced with this situation. I have raised and released 28 Monarch butterflies this season, which has been a great triumph for me! Yesterday morning I saw that two chrysalis were darkened and it was just a matter of time before 2 new butterflies emerged. Normally, they have been emerging early in the morning, but it's September in Kentucky (if that has anything to do with it) and my butterflies are coming out a little later in the day, like afternoons. So I had to run an errand and when I got back, both were out and one was hanging normally. The other, though, had the end of her abdomen still stuck inside the chrysalis and her wings were not looking normal. With a gentle touch, I disconnected her from the chrysalis and she seemed relieved and started walking around on the screen her chrysalis was attached to. The other butterfly soon flew away but this little girl, started her wing beats and I saw the problem. Her wings had been malformed as a result of her being stuck. She's eager to crawl onto my finger as I take her from flower to flower, and she spent the night on a Tithonia in my flower bed. Today I have taken her to the butterfly bush and she is eating well. I feel so guilty about not being here during her birth.. I even thought of building her new wings out of wings I've found in the past. But I am going with your second option. I will keep her outside on my flowers for as long as they hold out, but it is September and they are already fading. So much can happen during the raising of these beautiful creatures...but I think I will still do it again next year. A little older, and a little wiser all the time. Thank you again, Rich.
And thank YOU for doing what you can to help them. Any of the options are respectable, but that also means, when any option of these are chosen, I can only respect the person for making their decision. And another thank you given for considering them and deciding which you were most comfortable with. Each year teaches us the lessons needed to improve the next year. We just have to be willing to listen.
I have raised more than 300 butterflies this summer, just today when I come home from work and found two butterflies fall from hanging and broken their wings. I think it will be hard for them to make the trip to Mexico, so I might just take care of them as pets. It’s so hard to see them like this, because they meant to fly.
@@allyzhou1045 𝚒 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚢
I needed this video. 2 days ago, a monarch emerged and her wings are very crumpled and she can't fly. Her Chyrsalis had fallen, I thought that maybe I caught it in time and unfortunately I did not. I feel responsible, but I wasn't home when she fell. Thank you Rich.
You're very welcome. We all go through it at some point if we are raising enough Monarchs. It's a shared experience, though I'm sure not many of us like talking about it. It's an uncomfortable topic. To be honest, I've gotten much more positive feedback on this than I thought. That's appreciated, for sure.
What sort of enclosure do you have the chrysalides in? If it's all mesh, then they should be able to climb back up the side if they fall. But if it's a plastic/glass aquarium then they have trouble climbing up the sides.
I've been raising Monarch's for 7 years now and I've seen a lot! The good, bad and the really tough decisions. I had 1 Monarch that didn't form properly and was OE free. I decided to raise it and I fed it Hummingbird food for the 6 weeks it lived. It didn't seem to want to be free. It was as if it knew what I was doing to help it. It knew when I was going to feed it and it ate well. I believe most live 6 weeks or maybe more, but I felt good that I gave this One 6 weeks it wouldn't have otherwise had. Thank you for your videos. I always recommend them to new people raising Monarch's. I'm in San Diego California and the Tanchid fly is the worst enemy to the Monarch's! I wish We could figure out how to get rid of this pest! It kills so many!!!
Oh l did just that as well. I made a net enclosure for her to walk and enjoy milkweed outside and put it on with a close pin. Willow even layed eggs on MW.. That was a happy thing. 6 weeks she lived. Took her camping in the RV too. ❤ Such a gift right?
I honestly like a mix of option 1 and 2. I had one early this year that couldn’t fly, so I kept him in a cage but felt that hurt that he couldn’t be what he was. So I decided everyday for a few hours id let him out into the gardens. He seemed to really enjoy that.
I tried the same about 2 years ago with one who was nearing the end of her days. I found her in my yard with a torn wing and couldn't bare the thought of just leaving her there struggling. So I brought her in, I repaired the wing, I fed her and took her outside to the wildflowers several times a day and after about 4 days she really seemed like she wanted to be away from me, out in nature. For the first days, she didn't try to get away at all so it didn't feel wrong. But once she started trying to go, I started feeling guilty. So I said my goodbye, as did my cat.. He grew pretty attached to her lol.. And I took her out to the back field full of flowers. She flew, a little, and the next day I couldn't find her.
@@Liannabelle8 hello please may u tell me how u fixed the wing? I have a butterfly whos wing is completely damaged and mis-shapened and I really want to attempt to fix it! Please explain in detail and every step you did to help it. Also can butterflies that havent been fed well be too weak to fly? I took mine home from a nursery I work at as they were the last two that wouldnt fly off but all the others were fine and seems they havent been fed well so I've made some honey water nectar up for them on a sponge and they have drank some with their tongues. I've got two both cant fly but ones wings are fine (as much as I can tell) whilst the others wings are mis-shapened and broken and when they try and fly they both just flitter on their backs upside down trying to get back up... its very stressful and sad as I have so much empathy for all living things and do not at all want them to suffer I just want them to live their lives they were they are supposed too 😢. Please any advice would be much appreciated 🙏 ❤ thanks a bunch and anyone else whos got advice please let me know ASAP!
@@Liannabelle8 I am going thru the same thing now. I like what you did...I will take mine out tomorrow and see how it goes.
I've had some where they just needed some extra tlc. Fed them, gave them sunshine while protecting them from the neighborhood cats, and then they were able to fly away after a day or so.
I hope this is the case with mine...in the meantime I make sure I take her outside in the Breeze and sunshine and I feel her enclosure with flowers and nature
She did NOT ever fly...but she lived quite a bit longer than the last one I had that had a birth defect. Unfortunately, because I rescue caterpillars from the wild and try to keep them safe until they emerge from cocoon, near 50% of mine are born unable to fly or fuse there proboscis. But the ones that do live.... I feel like those are victories! :-)
At least she lived a good life from what I read
That’s what I do. 💕
@@sonyasmith9183 that's still one more that has survived when you are able to release them.❤
Your videos have been a saving grace! Finding information on caring for injured monarchs is surprisingly hard to come by.
We recently had a rescued chrysalis that had fallen, and was badly flattened on one side. The butterfly emerged with one set of wings curled to the side, and sadly cannot fly.
We've made the choice to feed and caretake for her, thank you for sharing the knowledge for how to feed them!
Yes, I noticed this topic wasn't really out there at the time (and I guess, still isn't too much). I assumed it might be that it's a rough subject and not too many probably want to talk about it. I didn't really want to either. Still, it's better to be equipped with some options if the situation arises than to not. Glad you found it useful!
I cannot thank you enough for making this video. About a year ago I started a butterfly garden outside and a small one in my screen room. By the way I live in Florida. The middle of February I had approximately 60 caterpillars outside at one time. Luckily I was able to buy alot of milkweed to feed them all. However because I had so many a few of the butterflies have deformed wings or a front broken leg. I have been sad to put it mildly. After watching your video it helped to understand why it can happen and my options. I am feeding one, she's very calm and will sit on my finger. Unfortunately the 2 others are beyond help. Great news yesterday I released 23 monarchs.
Where is the video
@@frankdzierzanowski5492I think she’s referring to the one we are watching.
I appreciate your video and found it after we found a wild monarch with a bent wing 😢 we are going to try option 1…thanks for this information…it was super helpful!
I have been in this situation a few times this past season and currently working with a very mild wing issue. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you for making this video, it was well presented and needed. Thank you so very much.
We found a chrysalis attached to a fuel can in our lawn mower shed and have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little friend. It eclosed sometime yesterday and still had curled wings when we discovered it, so we left it in the shed, not knowing how much longer it needed to rest. Today it was stuck in a cobweb and the wings were still curled up. :-( We appreciate this video, as it helped immensely with deciding to give the little fella (or lady) a chance to experience life. After bravely flutter-stepping around our driveway, it found some clovers to munch on. If 2020 has taught us anything so far, it's that you've got to live what life you have! Thanks again!
Thank you for the guidance! The fact is, if you’re raising as many monarchs as I am. There’s no way around the fact there’s gonna be some problems and some very sad days. We chose to take in nature and we should al know nature can be very cruel as well as absolutely beautiful and a great learning process for our soul and life lessons. I’ve raised 100’s if monarchs over the last 5 years and please don’t take this the wrong way. It gets a tiny drop easier making decisions once you’ve experienced all that I have so far. I’m not as shocked going out in the morning and seeing a hanging down caterpillar partially alive, but in its way out. I refuse to allow the other insects to slowly eat it and it can spread what ever caused its sickness to all the other caterpillars unfortunately. I’ve also experienced deformed butterflies come out of perfect chrysalis’ . I’ve tried fixing their wings and it never works. I don’t have the experience or the tools for it. Every year I feel myself wanting to call it quits and pull all the milkweed out and never do this again, but somehow I push on and do it year after year and hope for the best. At least I’ve watched a few hundred monarchs fly away so far. It makes it worth the bad times to witness that.
The best way to learn is through experience along with great videos like this one. It’s all about sharing our experiences to help each other help the monarchs as well as other pollinators. Good luck everyone!
This is my first year of raising Monarchs. I've released 15 so far. The 16th one just emerged this morning. He is our in my habitat drying his wings. I have one more chrysalis that I think will emerge tomorrow. I've watched so many of your videos and they have helped so much. THANK YOU! I live in SW Florida so our season is, as you know, longer. I've had a few that didn't make it for whatever reason. I was heart broken and didn't want to see them suffer, so thank you for the euthanizing video. I think the freezer is the best option, and a proper burial afterward. I also had one with a crumpled wing and after caring for it for a couple of days I took it to work and released it in our butterfly garden. (I work in a library that has a butterfly garden that is maintained by a volunteer gardening group. The local butterfly group comes and releases some butterflies there, occasionally) I felt it was the best place to feel free and have a food source that it could get to with its limited mobility. I do have a question. One of the butterflies I froze I felt may have had OE, she was badly deformed. Do you think the freezing helps to kill and prevent the spread of OE?
Hey Phillis. Sorry that there were a few that didn't do so well, but, it takes a thicker skin than some might think to raise these guys. Thank you for soldiering through it. It's much appreciated. Thank you for your care and concern.
As for the euthanized butterfly that may have had OE, I wouldn't be too worried. The spores can survive cold temperatures. How cold, I'm not 100% sure on. Still, we must be careful that after euthanizing, we dispose of the body properly, and burial (followed by a hand washing) should do the trick just fine. OE spores are only a problem if they get to where a caterpillar will eat them. That would be either on milkweed leaves, or onto an adult that will either put them on milkweed leaves, or on another adult that will, such as in mating. So, burying them in the ground would pose no issues.
Since I found your channel 2 years ago, I've been on a mission to help the Monarch butterflies. I commented my 1st go around, when 2 of my hatchlings didn't hatch. You said they were sick. (Thank you for helping me). Last year I raised 2 with perfect success. Well this year I planted milkweed seeds I'd gathered last fall. They yielded about 10-15 large plants. I babied those plants all summer, but no eggs as of July 28th. We went on vacation for 2 weeks, and when we got home, behold 20 monarch caterpillars. All the same age; I'm assuming just 1 female took advantage of the garden I'd planted just for her. Five developed their chrysalis today and 6 are j-hanging tonight on the lattice I placed behind the Monarch garden. This is a very fulfilling project, and I can't wait to do it again. I couldn't have done it without your TH-cam channel. Thanks so much!
So cool to hear that! Sounds like a female did do an "egg dump" on your plants if they are all of the same developmental age, but, that's not certain of course. Either way, so glad to hear that it's been successful for you this year. You're off and rolling!
Rich, today I watched a monarch struggle to get out of the chrysalis. We sat there for an hour and a half not knowing it should only take 15 minutes and finally the butterfly had just a little bit left on one wing so I got a tweezers and pulled it off. The butterfly very weakly flooded its wings and after watching your video I gave up hope. As a last resortI took the butterfly and put her on a nectar plant and let her sit there. I went in the house To cry I kept checking on her. Approximately two hours later after checking on her every 10 minutes I looked out just in time to see her wings fluttering madly fully grown and watch her fly away. Thank you for your advice on Putting the butterfly on a nectar plant in this case it wasn’t to die, it was to nourish her until she had the strength and get the fluid in her wings to fly away
Your videos are fantastic and I am so grateful to have found them…. Especially grateful for your willingness to speak in a thoughtful manner about our special needs butterflies as well as the OE parasite problem and how to test for it. Thank you for having the courage knowing that your knowledge was needed! I have a weak and malformed female in my care now after finding her struggling outside. We have a microscope on order, but she is quarantined for the interim. I made the mistake of placing a too large ramekin with sugar water outside while she was still there only later to be horrified finding her drowning in it! A full 24 hours, few dunks and showers later, she seems happy enough in her box along w her watermelon and honey water cotton ball and of course milkweed to make her feel more at home. Tomorrow we’ll see how she does placed on flowers and pray she will let us know what she wants… continue w option #1 or find her own way via option #2.
Deep bow of appreciation for your work and service. There is still hope in this wild world ❤️
I don’t have enough words to express how much your videos have helped me and how much I have enjoyed raising monarchs. Today I have my first little guy that can’t fly and I am so heartbroken. Thank you for taking on this topic and presenting all the options in a compassionate rational way. Trying to figure out what went wrong but I have no idea. Heartbreaking.
It's sad when it happens, for sure, but it's better to happen with the knowledge of what you would do in such a situation. I had a male this year that had everything about him looking perfect. But, he'd flap his wings in erratic ways, and just couldn't fly. Everything was in tact, but no flight. If we raise Monarchs for enough summers, we'll see this from time to time. Never easy to see, but we'll see it nonetheless.
@@MrLundScience Soo, I tested for OE and he was clean, I kept him overnight because it was late and then in the morning I brought him a fresh flower he was eating like crazy. I had opted for putting him out in the garden as my solution so I took him out there put him on a flower in my butterfly garden and he took off and flew away!!
Yeah, when their wings look good, you gotta give them a few days to perhaps "figure it out", so to speak. This year's male, I described, never was able to get it under control. I'm pleased to hear that yours eventually took flight.
Thank you so very much for putting this video together. Within a month of having our first monarch caterpillar we have found ourselves in this situation. It's heartbreaking. Because you bravely decided to discuss the hard topic I have the information I needed. For what it's worth, your option 2 was the one that I had selected on my own but I was starting to second guess my decision. It's heartbreaking to see her hanging on the top of a milkweed flower but she does not seem to be in distress at all (aside from the obvious). I was starting to consider option 1 but honestly I think I would just end up making it worse for her and us.
Seriously, thank you. Your video really helped with the emotions.
On a happier note, our milkweed (three different species) are absolutely full of caterpillars and I can find chrysalids easily pretty much everywhere in our yard. One of our swamp milkweed plants (A. Incarnata) was literally eaten to the ground with only half a leaf remaining at the bottom of a naked stem. A few days later it had new growth all over it.
Thank you so much for this video. I knew these would be the three options you would discuss but somehow listening to someone else discuss it helped me with this process.
Thank you for those words. That was definitely one of the goals of this video. Very much appreciated.
Thank you for making this video. Woke up this morning to a butterfly that had fallen while filling his wings and wasn't sure what to do. Very glad to see you have a video on the topic.
Thank you for this video. We literally raised 100s of monarchs this summer with all the stay at home orders this year. Deciding what to do for the few that can't fly has been very hard. Sometimes I've raised them for weeks and sometimes I've put them outside (but geez the guilt of "giving up on them" was a lot). Your logic on option 2 is a very helpful way to look at it so thank you for that.
Thank you!! I am new to raising monarchs. I have released 66 healthy ones since March. I've had a butterfly garden for decades. I moved to SW Florida 7 years ago and have really gotten into milkweed. I love having them all around the garden and have even watched them from just a couple feet away lay eggs on the milkweed outside. How fun!!! :) I have had a few not so healthy and today had one that dropped as it was hatching and is not formed at all. I thought for sure it was not alive and was so sad when I touched him and he moved. His 2 front legs do not work correctly. Although he's able to move around a bit with his back 2. His wings are not formed at all but you can see he's/she's trying to move them. The body looks disfigured. I am not sure if its stamen is working correctly. It doesn't seem to be moving that well. I've placed him on a large fully bloomed penta and have provided a cap of water and a small orange slice. In the flower. I was going to put him outside. I agree....this is how it would have been in nature. I don't want to put him in the freezer although my friend suggested that and I hate to see him suffer. So, I am going with letting him die naturally with dignity. Humanizing the monarch. hahah. I have a living will. I just hope he isn't in pain. My views may change in the future but for today he's sitting quietly on the penta. Your video was a tremendous help!! Great Work!! :) Thank You!! :)
Thank you so much for this video. Extremely helpful!
Thank you very much for all these Monarch Butterfly videos. While I've only had one butterfly emerge from a Chrysalis just fine this season, I now have the information on what I could do if future butterflies aren't as lucky.
Keep up the great work, sir!
Happy to help! I'm R&D-ing a possible 4th option, but that might take time to be presented correctly. We'll see this season if it works out.
What an awesome awesome video. Thank you so much for presenting this. This is my 2nd year with Monarchs, and today was just a bad day. After dozens of happy releases, I had two to euthanize, and for the first time, a failure to fly.
Beautifully formed, good wing action, but he cannot stay airborne.
I watched your video...felt hugely not so alone...so I'll feed this boy and see how he is in the morning. Maybe with food, rest and some bench presses, he'll be ready to fly.
Otherwise, sadly, he's a candidate for option 2. He wants out, one way or another.. .
Thanks again.
Give them at least a week of TLC before giving up on them. I found that sometimes it takes that long. Sometimes they have a slightly swollen belly, and I don't know what it is, but it resolves in a few days and suddenly they feel well and they can fly. Sometimes I think the failure to stay airborne is that they don't feel well and they're not flapping their wings fast enough. When they feel well, they get full of energy and they can fly away. Also, I found that many monarchs with a split proboscis, after feeding them pure liquid for a few days, will sometimes fuse them days later. Again, I think they don't feel well and after they start to feel better, they do what they need to survive. I've been able to release some that came out with a split proboscis after several days.
Thanks so much for this informative and thoughtful video. Was upset to have found a Monarch on the grass with deformed wing. Will opt for second choice.
This happened to me four different times. I placed mine in the garden with flowers but it still made me sad but it is nature and it is a process if we try to help Monarchs continue to multiply and survive. Thanks Rich for the information
You're welcome. If we raise Monarchs, eventually we encounter this. While it's not "pleasant" information, its information we might need from time to time to consider. Thanks for checking it out.
Thank you for your honest and informational video. I was given a caterpillar and raised it as a class pet. We were very happy today as we witnessed the butterflying emerging from its chrysalis. However, both of his front wings are curled. I have been researching on what to do and came across your video. I am thinking about taking it home to nurse it.
I appreciate your help! Your video was very helpful for the monarch my students found. I'm going with option #2 and plan to use this life lesson as part of our natural selection and life cycle units. Thank you for the helpful information.
Glad you have discussed all three options. It’s sad to see their wings broken and can’t fly like other healthy ones. Thank you for this marvelous video.
Thank you!!! You have helped me reason out the choice for a situation just like this. All are sensible to my mind and I've selected the one that resonates most with my outlook. Many thanks!
Have learned so much from your informative videos and love reading your thoughtful and empathetic responses to comments. You are a fine teacher! Sadly, my very first butterfly to eclose fell just after he had pumped fluid into the veins. Got him back on the chrysalis very quickly, but his lower right wing is slightly damaged and the upper right is a little misshapen. He is unable to fly aside from very short flutters, mostly down. I have decided on a combination of 1 and 2. I take him in at night and in rain and feed him some honey water, but put him outside on flowers in my garden when it is sunny and warm during the day. I am hoping that he is enjoying his time out in nature. If he teaches a bird a good lesson about eating monarchs, so be it. Happily, I have 10 more chrysalides and one last instar 5 cat, and I'm hoping they will all do better.
Yeah, there's no easy choice with these options. But, you gotta do what you feel most comfortable with, and at least take solace in knowing that whichever option you prefer, there is an amount of logic to it.
I have a monarch that emerged last weekend and did not have quite enough room to dry his wings properly. He surprised me by eclosing a day or so earlier than expected.
He has both fore wings bent slightly. Otherwise healthy.
I have decided to keep him and I place him out on a huge flowering bush with lots of other butterflies during the day. He is seemingly learning to fly short distances but comes in to a flower bouquet I have in my en suite bathroom for the night.
I think this is a better option than just keeping in a box or whatever. It's a little of the one idea and a little of the other. I know a bird may eat him and nature may take it's course but he's hopefully getting some quality of life and I feel I am doing the best for him I can at present.
I am considering cutting a small portion of the bent area off each of his wings to hopefully help him fly better. I have heard with 60% of wings they can still fly.
Has anyone tried this?
I'm sure may have tried it, and I'm guessing with mixed success. Probably it's obvious, but it depends upon what 40% is missing. If it's just the tips of the fore wings, the logic is sound, and if I were in your position, I'd probably try it out.
Rebekah Bennett hi, same thing happened to me, I would throw him in the air and he would flutter down, one day he flew away! So awesome!
I've had a monarch do a similar thing that you said and fell while eclosing. Same thing happened, crumpled wings. I decided to do the natural thing and put him on some flowers, but when I went to go check on him again he was covered in ants. I felt terrible LOL. I am taking care of an Eastern Black Swallowtail that eclosed way late as I write this and she is almost a month old. I'm enjoying it. She is not a burden
I’ve raised all the adult butterflies that couldn’t fly, hand fed them and sometimes I took them out to educate people about monarchs. It’s like any other animals who need help, I chose not to euthanize unless they won’t eat or badly hurt by a cat or what ever. I also let them hang out on curtains facing a window or place them in my outdoor butterfly room. They need to feel free. Usually towards the end I may put them on a nice fresh flower and peacefully let nature take its course. They usually disappear or I find the dead body later on after some time. It’s sad but, you have to remember that you’ll have more soon. P.s. They respond to your affection when you talk to them.
I was given a caterpillar that was a few weeks old by a friend who's a "master gardener" and this caterpillar was kept in a container on a leaf and the leaf was kept in a vial to keep the leaf moist and the vial was kept in a glass jar. Everything was going fine until one day, a family member accidentally knocked the container on the ground. The glass jar squished the poor thing. I was heart broke. 😭 I was just a beginner and that was my first caterpillar so I did not know that the jar posed a threat to my caterpillar so I learned alot from that experience. I admire your work and your channel so much that you have inspired me to grow milkweed in my backyard and try to raise caterpillars again.😊
I'm happy to hear that you're still at it. We're all human, capable of making mistakes. Continuing on, you'll save more Monarchs and be helping them in the long run. When tragedy happens, learning from it can make it a good thing in retrospect. In life in general, I've had to make some major mistakes to gain some wisdom. Mistakes are like life's version of sore muscles. Have to go through that soreness to increase your strength.
You are Awesome! Thankyou for your professional guidance. You are like the Guardian Angel for these beautiful beings. I’ve just subscribed to your excellent channel. Thanks again! ❤️
Hey, thanks! But remember, I'm not a professional when it comes to Monarchs. (High School Chemistry teacher? Yes, professional.) With the Monarchs, I'm an amateur, but perhaps a seasoned one. We all can be, if we stick at it. Welcome aboard!
Thank you, I appreciate the time you took to share these options. I have raised several different butterflies, most successful some not and its never easy when its not. These videos are always helpful for those learning along the way. Regardless easy or not. I just found a monarch that can't fly properly so I will attempt to care for it and see what happens but I will also bring it outside from time to time especially since it has already experienced living outside. We'll see what happens from there. Thanks again for sharing all your monarch videos.
Thanks. It's the tough situations we don't like to talk about, and thus, probably the tough ones that need to be addressed from time to time. Appreciate you taking care of those that have a struggle.
thankyou for this I fixed a monarchs wing and it flew. thank you so much
Great job! Hope he/she is doing well and on its way!
Thank you for posting this. I just experienced my first flightless Monarch. Perfectly formed wings, but something must have gone wrong somewhere. I have decided to put him in my large lantana and let him feed and experience the nature he is so eager to be in. I want his purpose to be an "educational" experience for a young bird so as to protect the healthy Monarchs. Every living creature needs to have a purpose. :)
Last year we had one with a bad wing. It could fly but for only short distances. We decided to let nature take it's course and let it go. As you mentioned, at least it got to experience nature. It does break your heart to see that but it breaks my heart to be driving down the road and see one fly smack into the car in front of me. You can't save everything. I have learned so much from your videos, thank you for the time and effort you have put into them. As I indicated to you before in a previous comment, the Hudson Valley in NYS has had a late start with the Monarchs. My first cat turned into chrysalis today. So far I am I nave collected over 40 eggs, woohoo!
Hey, great to hear that despite it being a late start, you've found plenty to keep yourself busy with! Thanks for updating me on that. It was definitely on my mind.
Last year, I had one fall shortly after eclosing, resulting in a bent wing. The next day, if I tossed her into the air, she would quickly flutter to the floor (indoor) or the ground (outdoor). I kept her inside for another day. That day, when I released her, she flew up, into a tree. I'm not sure she could fly straight. I've often wondered if I did the right thing. This video helps me feel better about having released her.
Sad video, but it makes me happy to see so many people passionate about this hobby.
Thanks for sharing, Rich! It was a great topic that we all need to know!
You're for sure welcome. I'm glad it's being received well. Some don't wish to discuss these parts of it, so it's been an elephant in the room for a while now. I'd rather talk about it and have some discussion than ignore something we all might go through.
Thank you so much for sharing this insight and covering the pros and cons. We kept our girl Matilda and she is now a week old and seems to be doing well!
I'm pleased that you found an option you are most comfortable with. You compassion is appreciated!
Thank you for all the infomation you shared. We successfully raised (from 4th and 5th instar), tagged, and released 24 monarchs this year with no issues. A couple days ago, the kids were playing outside and found a forlorn looking monarch in the grass with multiple holes in all 4 wing sections, some of them quite large. Other spots of the wings were friable (visibly, they looked grey and papery, almost like they had been burned). We brought him inside, checked him for OE, then attempted a repair with parts of another monarch wing that my daughter had in her "nature collection." We didn't have enough material to cover all the holes, but we covered the largest ones. The butterfly was apparently starving, and drank nectar (honey water from the end of a soft paintbrush) multiple times over the next hour. We let him rest overnight, and attempted to release him today. Unfortutately, while he could fly okay, he couldn't seem to get any height, and kept fluttering back to the ground. So he's back with us, and since he seems relaxed and eager/easy to feed, I suppose we'll keep him.
I have raised monarch since I was a little kid and it has always been so fun! I have done it quite a few times, and I have had many different kinds of experiences with it. One of my latest experiences which is one of the sadder ones was when my caterpillars erupted with parasitic wasp worms, I was very sad after this, but again I still tried to keep them alive a second time and it was working for a while until they turned into cocoons, then after about half of them flew away we were stuck with three who all had bad wings or curved wings, we tried to help a few by letting them in the sun and in the wind and two of them flew off, one of them we still have who is just staying in our yard we didn’t want to take it back in an enclosure, so I did a mix of the two first options, I have it in a bush now, and it *could* get eaten, if it does, than that’s nature. But it is safe, with food.
Thank you for the information. You did the right thing talking about this. I think 2 is the best option because this is what would be if the butterfly was born outside but I would probably opt for 3 for my own selfish reasons. Thank you for helping us help the monarchs.
I'm glad that you found this useful. Thank you for your compassion for the Monarchs.
Thank you!!! I bet this was a tough video to make, but it is necessary for those of us whom are trying to correctly raise Monarchs. I was thankful to hear all the pros and cons of the different options. WHEN (not IF) that time comes, I'll be ready to make a choice. Thank you for all the information in all of your videos. You're the one I check with first when wanting to learn more about helping raise Monarchs.
Sounds to me like you get it. Not an easy video to make, but better to have discussed it and not need it than need it and not discussed it, right?
@@MrLundScience Welp, one of my chrysalides was not looking right, so that's why I watched this video to begin with. It is as if the chrysalis didn't form all the way. However, it formed enough that there was a very thin layer over half the butterfly. If I looked close enough, I could see her breathing. (I have pictures of the chrysalis in case you're interested.) The caterpillar had only one antenna before making the chrysalis, so I don't know what happened. Anyway, the butterfly looks normal except that she has one antenna and cannot fly. I thought I would choose Option 2 only, but when she was still on the hasn't- bloomed-yet butterfly bush as it was raining and getting dark last night, I put her in a cage and made sure she drank some honey water. I suppose I'll make sure she is fed and safe for now. Then when the weather is nice in a few days, I plan on putting her back outside close to something flowering. So, I may be switching back in forth between Options 1 and 2. If after she had eclosed, she had been extremely deformed, I would have chosen Option 3. I've learned the options are on a case-by-case basis. Thank you again for your advice!
Well, what do you know!! I took One Antenna outside yesterday afternoon to get some sun, and she took off!!!
Thank you, this was really helpful. I’m glad you made the video.
Thank you, I am in the situation to make one of those options. I leaning to keeping it alive, but taking outside to experience the outdoors. This is a hard situation.
I find myself in the sad position of contemplating these options. I have an adult who hatched missing the right antennae, a lame right front leg, and right main wing that came out of the chrysalis like a thin, wet noodle. I removed the wing and right foreleg as the leg would drag around, impeding the use of the proboscis. I find the whole experience very emotional as +Wildflower mentioned.
Thanks so much for the video. You've presented some arguments for different options I had not considered.
This helped make my decision much easier to make. Thanks again !!
Very sorry this happened, but I'm pleased that you found new ways of looking at the options and came to an informed choice. That was, in the end, the goal of the video, and while it's an uncomfortable situation, hopefully it was somewhat less uncomfortable than it would have been otherwise.
Thanks again.
Welcome!
So VERY lovely to see a man with such compassion. I work in Dog Rescue, am familiar with Dog Rescues (and those who pledge, share, foster, transport, advocate) all over the country. Very few involved are men. HOWEVER let me say, when there is a disaster (flood/tornado) or something, we certainly do see men coming out to help. Just wish they helped as much with the daily DOG-overpopulation issues. Millions are euthanized ever year in kill shelters. ADOPT, don't $hop.
So glad to find your channel, am subscribed now. Found a monarch today in the wild that appears unable to fly and even a bit uneasy on feet/legs. Wings look great, with my limited experience anyway. Put it on some thawed frozen banana and milkweed, drank heartily and immediately. Storm is in progress so I tucked it in the greenhouse with echinacea where it can be dry and protected to just... wait and see? If it is newly emerged might it just take some time?
If the wings look relatively in tact and not damaged, sometimes, yes, Monarchs that don't seem able to fly can eventually figure it out. From my experience, it usually only takes a day, though, when this happens. I would suppose that multiple days could be a possibility. If you are comfortable caring for it and seeing if in a few days it's starts flying, that would be probably the optimal option. If it never ends up flying, though, you'll have to make a decision as to one of the options in this video (or perhaps other options that exist if you find one you prefer). I wish the lil' guy/gal luck!
MrLundScience Thank you thank you thank you 🙏🏼 It is with tears of joy and gratitude that I can report: It took to flight yesterday mid morning after a safe night amidst the carrot tops in the greenhouse. I heard flapping, ferocious flapping against the side, but not much height. Offered it the honey solution and when I pulled back to keep the feet out it popped up onto my shoulder! You have encouraged me and helped us both. Grace to you, this lil one (m or f, I have no clue, haha) is in the wild now!
I was thinking about what you were saying about options and possibly I have another there are conservation projects you could donate a butterfly to such as Niagara Falls and they look after them house them and such and they can be used as a ambassador and that way you are also giving them a chance as well and they will be around lots of other butterfly’s... and educate others as well..
If there is such a local area that would take it in, that's certainly an option. However, from what I understand of butterfly houses (which, admittedly, may be different than what you are describing) they are not very open to taking in foreign butterflies, as they may be carrying disease or other infectious pathogens that could spread to the others they already have and maintain. And offering them up one that has a deformity or other problems likely wouldn't boost their confidence that it doesn't have something going on with it. No harm in asking, though, I suppose.
Thank you so much for making this video. It is really valuable information and you raise some points that people may have never considered. The' lesson for predators" argument is one I had never considered. I have always kept and cared for my disabled monarchs, even if they are sick...but I don't keep them in cages. I have flower plants available and supplement them with homemade nectar. One thing I want to point out: you do NOT have to feed them multiple times a day. As long as their abdomen gets plump after they eat and they eat til they go potty, they are full. A typical feed should take several minutes when handfeeding. Monitor the butterfly's belly for signs of thinning and darker waste means they are more dehydrated. You can even save split proboscis monarchs if you provide a nectar reservoir! If you do this, you can get away with every other day if needed....so people with jobs can feed am or pm, or both if they want to, but the monarch will not suffer going 8 hours without food. Consider how much non-nectar-plant land they fly over. In Nature, sometimes they go days with nothing to eat.
All true. I suppose "need" (if I used that word) is too strong of a word. I feed them when they are hungry, it would seem, and try to keep it similar to nature, but certainly there are those rainy days they experience out there where they may not get any food for a day or two.
Glad to see you again on here!
Very informative video. One of ours has a deformed wing. :( We'll take the nature approach and let him enjoy his days out in nature where it should be. Thank you for sharing this!
Wait. Why not just keep it around and let it feel pleasure for as long as possible before it dies?
Thank you so much for your videos. We are new to the world of monarchs and have a female who eclosed and looks normal but can't fly. I put her in our new 10'x10'x7' enclosure where she has a ton of different plants and trees to explore. My wife made a 4 to 1 sugar solution for her and we will care for her until she can fly or passes. Thanks again for all your help.
You're welcome, and thank you for your compassion for these animals.
I've seen wing transplants and the monarchs being able to fly again
As have I. That's still something I want to explore, but when I've seen others do it, I haven't seen them talk about or test out how lasting the methods are. I want to try and find a way that I can provide information on how durable the repair is, since there's different ways of doing it. Thus, we could say it's still in the "R&D" stage for me.
Mine was like that, but I needed to “train” him to fly, it was emotional! I was proud
This really helped with my butterfly but she/he still can't fly can anyone help?
@@jewelvibes6765 Cute
A few thoughts about wing or partial wing replacement: you have to be willing to remove and store wings from deceased Monarchs ahead of time, to be prepared for such an event. That means you will probably get them from recent dead or euthanized in freezer Bflies that had no quality of Bfly life - like, deformed in parts, or wing movement too weakened by unknown causes to allow the Bfly to function in any reasonable life, etc. Then, consider the recipient Bfly. My personal guideline is when I have a robust Bfly, who otherwise seems healthy, really seems to try persistently to fly, and has a wing damaged or deformed that can be a straight forward swap with a normal replacement part, then, the procedure is worth it because it will have a very high potential to be successful. You have to study up on how to do this and have the tools recommended and plan it out thoroughly. I have to say that each time I’ve done this, when the robust butterfly all of a sudden has a balanced body/wings and then after drying (glue) and resting, he takes off - up, up and away - it is really a joyful moment. My mind always pictures the little Bfly exclaiming to himself and the world “Uh, oh, Wow ! I don’t know what happened but now I’m whole and I can FLY !!!”.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate this video which I found after googling what to do when a monarch can't fly, a situation I am facing with a heavy heart. I do not raise monarchs indoors but I provide a natural habitat for them by growing milkweed and putting up a structure for them to form a chrysalis on. I usually only get a couple every year as my milkweed patch is still quite small, but this year I had 16 successfully form a chrysalis! Sadly, of these I had 2 that never hatched and 3 monarchs emerged with wing deformities that resulted in them not being able to fly. It baffles me as the chrysalides were undisturbed, and seeing the monarchs unable to fly has been so heartbreaking and distressing. I wanted to know what the options were, if perhaps there was some way I could help them. Hearing these three options, I will go with #2: placing them gently among the flowers in my yard, to play their role in nature. Thank you so much for covering this very difficult situation, your compassionate approach combined with the logical presentation of the options has helped immensely.
Returning to this video four years later: had six of this year's 12 chrysalids emerge at the worst possible time, all under an awning but we just had the remnants of hurricane Helene in our area. I saw at least one fly away successfully once the rain let up, but found the remnants of others who had tried to fly off in the worst of it and got caught in the downpours 😢 One, however, was still alive but thoroughly soaked in a puddle on my driveway, and likely has wing damage. I gently put it back under the awning to dry out, and 5 hours later still no flight, so it climbed onto my hand and I moved it to a flower source, where it can at least experience the post-storm sun, breeze, and nectar as best it can. Breaks my heart, but rewatching your video was again a great comfort.
Thank you for this information. I found a beautiful butterfly with a missing wing. My heart broke, so I brought it home. I looked up a few things and thankfully I came across your video.
Glad I could help. It's a sad situation, but hopefully informed options can help make it easier to manage. Good luck!
Thank you for the video. First time with a proper milkweed area in our small garden and thus any significant monarchs, and when we encountered our issue, I found your video. We are in the Northeast- VA area, so it is getting rather chilly. We have a monarch that seemed to not have problems as caterpillar or with the chrysalis, but the hatched butterfly is not flying (couple of days now). At one point it seemed to have been able to get from one patch of flowers to a tall sunflower, but it only happened a couple of times- and I found it the next day fallen off the sunflower and in a pot underneath. I even thought at first that it may be dead, but she seemed to perk up when I got her out. She ate some sugar water,, and i left her to sit in the sun for a while with some flowers and sugar water as options.
As there was no change and it was not cold but certainly chilly, I finally brought her in to see if a warm space would help for a bit. She hung on the netting upside down for a while- and throught the night. I had placed some food, but did not see her eat. Next day she was eating some of the sugar water and even tested out a raspberry, but was crawling almost sideways and somewhat limping and dragging herself around. The wings seem fine, but she leans to the side, doesn't really open them, and seems almost as if she is bottom heavy. This has now continued. She has been eating but it is getting cold- and it is towards the tail end of when they should be heading out to migrate :( We started to bring her in at night and take her out during the day, but she will not fly anywhere. Just scrambles around. Shes fallen on her back a few times now and I've had to get her up. I've taken her outside to sit on some flowers and get some air during the day but she doesn't seem to enjoy the wind- and it will blow her over sometimes. I had really hoped she may get her bearings and fly but no such luck. So I guess we are keeping her, but I really hope we didnt do anything to harm her chances. As she is our current and only monarch, her name is Elizabeth and she lives in a herb dryer. Finally got her enclosure today.
I think you're so much for your video I found it very informative. This is my first year quasi raising monarchs. This means we had one milkweed plant caterpillars ate it and I started with 13 super hungry caterpillars. Of course, I had to buy more Milkweeds...then I had 58 lol now it's well over 100 raised and about 40 Milkweeds. Now I'm down to my last caterpillar and the last 3 cocoons have come out with defective wings. They cocooned on the outside of our bay storage doors. Very slippery. They are falling as soon as they come out. I picked up the last 3 and they can't fly. Is there anything at all I can do to help? So sad. How can I remove the cocoons safely and hang like I see you've done in your video? Thank you for you time.
Very good points, thank you!!
I love listening to you talk, even if it is over such a not-fun topic
Oh btw, i currently have 30 chrysalis that are almost completely emerged with healthy butterflies and only 1 fell. So glad i didn't have another run in with OE this time.
Wow...thanks for that. I always feel like I'm long winded. I go into many details, though, as I want to try and be thorough, and troubleshoot questions that might come up by answering them ahead of time. I write a script or list of the points I want to bring up, and then try to think of what questions might arise because of the topic and cover that as well. So, thank you for that feedback. At times, I've thought about reducing the amount of information, but usually side against it. Try to flesh out most of the topic the first time in the video so there's less of a need for those points to be brought up in future ones.
Congrats on the 30, and on not having any OE! That's awesome!
I think you are extremely thorough and cover bases that many wouldn't even think of. I wouldn't change a thing, i think you do a great job!
That's very kind and well taken. Thank you Marissa. Truly, that's quite appreciated.
Also...do you have a pet lemur? That video is super adorable.
I had a butterfly that had one set of the wings all messed up but after a few days of feeding it and caring for it he was able to fly so I released him
Thank you for this video. I stopped bringing my eggs in because I had one that wouldn’t fly and wouldn’t eat and after a few days I had to make a decision. So, I’m so thankful to hear your reasoning and rationales. And you handled the discussion very sensitivity. I still have a TON of milkweed and if the lizards are bad I will bring in eggs, but I’ve decided to be more hands off in my monarch support.
But right now I have one that eclosed and can’t fly. I found him flopping around in the grass. So that was what led me to your video. I like how you explained that even though he can’t fly he still has a purpose for his little life in possibly teaching the birds not to eat things that look like him! I believe there is a purpose for all things. We just don’t always have the privilege of knowing that purpose. Your explanation of “option 2” makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you again for the video.
I'm glad that you were able to consider the options and find one that you were most comfortable with. It's like having to choose the lesser of bad options for a bad situation. Your compassion for the animal is definitely appreciated!
Thank you so much for this video. I have been helping/raising and releasing monarchs for over two years, this was the first season I had a monarch emerge with a deformity to her wing, unable to fly and I live in New Hampshire. I was unsure what to do, but I allowed myself to follow my heart I released and placed her on some sedum in my garden, after I fed her honey water per your recommendation. She is free with a belly full of honey water, who knows what will happen to her, but I have peace knowing that I did all that I could to help the monarchs and keeping with as Nature intended! Thank you for ALL your videos!
As many others have said before me, thank you for this video. It has been a helpful resource for me, having raised monarchs for the first time this spring. I successfully released 58 healthy butterflies but one became stuck in its chrysalis and its wings did not have a chance to expand (it died after 1 day), and another's chrysalis fell and was damaged. That one emerged with crumpled wings and unable to fly. I fed it honey water twice a day, gave it as much outdoor time as possible, and kept it in a butterfly enclosure in my home at night. It was very strong-willed and tried its best to fly every day. I hope I gave it the best life possible but it is hard to know what's right. Sadly, it died yesterday after exactly three weeks of life. I had become used to having the little critter around :( but it was heartbreaking to see it struggle and not be able to live a natural butterfly life. Thanks again for this video, which is a great resource for anyone encountering this situation. Best wishes from Miami, Florida.
I found comfort in your comments. I too had a "strong-willed" butterfly with damaged wings. I did not want her to become fodder for the numerous Brown Anole lizards that are ubiquitous in Hawaii gardens. So I kept her in an enclosure and fed her honey water, 2-3 times a day. She lasted 4 weeks. The last day, she was too weak to extend her probocis on her own. I helped extend it and she took her last meal. I felt it was time to euthanize. I placed her on a bed of flowers and then into the freezer. I buried her in a crown flower leaf coffin yesterday. With tears running down my face, I sent her off to butterfly heaven.
This video helps me to take care of Monarch butterfly chrysalis and butterflies very much. We had 6 caterpillars this spring, and we found 3 chrysalis in our backyard. One hatched and flew away. There is one which does not make any progress of darkening its color. It's been more than a week. We'll keep watching it.
Thank you, I still don't have clarity on what I am doing, but this helps me see other options.
I'm glad that this helped. If you have questions, feel free to ask.
As always from you... AWESOME video.
I’m raising monarch caterpillars and your videos help me so much thank you so much
You're absolutely welcome! Glad I could be of service!
Only option 2, the moarc has a purpose, even if it is a short life, respecting freedom is a virtue. We expect the best always but a life in jail or death without a purpose doesn't seem honourable or majestic enough for a monarc.
Interesting video! I too had to make these tough decisions from time to time. But only a handful of times I had the unique opportunity of letting deformed monarch butterflies serve their purpose. A couple of times during 'hatching phase' a male and female hatched with wing deformities. I kept em together and a couple of hours later they began mating. I guess they decided to skip the mating rituals and went for it. I kept them fed and safe while they were attached. When they detached I put the female on a potted milkweed plant and she had laid almost all of her eggs on that one milkweed plant. The male monarch I put him outside on top of a flower and let nature take its course. Days later I found the female monarch dead laying on top of the soil of the potted milkweed. We can always try to find a solution for a good ending.
Bro! Only had to come across this situation to end up watching this video! GREAT VIDEO!!! I would've never know what to do with my Flightless Gulf Fritillary... It hatched and it felt, unfortunately I came to realize this several hours after, and its wings never made it. Disappointed, Cause I really Wanted to take some Good-HD-Pictures of it after the long wait... guess its gonna have to be at another time, and will let nature do its thing. Thanks Mr. Lund, keep up the good work!
Great points on a difficult topic. Thanks.
Good information I'm going with option two it makes sense to me I like your logic
Our first monarch ever came out of the chrysalis this morning and we thought she flew away but sadly found her a few hours later on the ground with warped and kinda crumpled wings... so sad! Our daughter has been checking them daily and I don't have the heart to tell her she probably will never fly. :(
As you've probably guessed, our numbers here in the West are way down. I've only had 1 male visit my patch and that was just before fires started and then 1 female in our small Oregon town. It will be interesting to see the numbers this winter on the numbers overwintering in CA. Our largest numbers are usually in the Pismo State Beach area in the dense eucalyptus grove.
Off to watch your video. OK, well done as usual. I've always released my handicapped monarchs. I've only experienced those that fall during that filling stage. Although I've had a few where fluid has dripped out for no visible reason. We have enough flowers over the summer to support them. Next, a female might still have an opportunity to receive a male and be productive. I keep my large milkweed patch healthy from May until Sept. If someone needs to place their handicapped monarch in a community garden, the chance for viable milkweed is slim. The major threat to the monarch that's unable to fly is predatory insects around the garden, like the crab spider etc.
Thanks David. Sorry to hear about the numbers in CA, but I would imagine wildfires would have to have some effect. Gosh, I hope that ends soon.
As for the options to take, I can easily see why someone would choose one above the other two based on personal preference. Another comment below discussed how in the past, they've tried option #1, and the butterfly, trying to fly all the time, ended up damaging its wings severely. Meanwhile, in option #2, that person would see the Monarch over the course of days in the yard, trying to fly and always struggling. They said that in the end, both situations ended up resulting in option #3. None of it is a good situation to be in, and none of the options are ideal, unfortunately.
@@MrLundScience Thank you Mr. LundScience, this is the best information I have found on the subject, serious, realistic, intelligent and compassionate. Since I started planting milkweed a few years back (here in Southern California) I have been seeing the miracle of metamorphosis up close, but we have had two that have appeared in the yard with crumpled wings, the first one I know fell when it emerged. I fed it oranges sliced which it ate greedily and would climb up on them and suck till finished. At night I covered it with a mesh bowl which I fastened in the ground inverted to protect from possible rodents and fastened in the ground inside it an artificial stem which it climbed up on to spend the night. It would crawl to the sunlight during the day, suck the fruit to eat, and climb on the perch at night. It lasted about 2 weeks until a predator apparently took it during the day. Now a year or two later a similar one appeared in the yard yesterday. I may just leave it and let nature take its course. Both of these came out of the chrysalis in winter, I am actually surprised at how many caterpillars and chrysallis we have in December, previously I had thought monarchs would migrate perhaps to Mexico for the winter but we have had many. I'm concerned if maybe my not cutting back the milkweed after summer encourages them to reproduce butterflies that can't survive because of the winter. But thank you so much for your thoughtful video.
This is my second year as a Monarch Guardian. Just yesterday I had a female fall during eclose. I did not witness it, so I'm unsure if it was due to a leg caught or what. Long story short, I managed to help her so she did fully inflate her wings, and they are 99% visually perfect and seem to be functioning as far as flapping. Yet she still can't seem to take wing. I am so very appreciative that you did make this video because you offered a practical alternative I did not find elsewhere when looking for what else I can do besides keep her for her life cycle or euthanize. I am currently a bit overwhelmed since I'm near 7 times the number I raised and released last year, so the pet option seemed daunting. I really do not want to euthanize. So thank you for this third option.
While watching this video, I did think of a fourth (and this may have been one of the "others" you mentioned but did not cover, and someone may have even suggested it below but I don't have time to read through them all to see, so apologies if someone has), which is to check with my local library and see if they wanted to schedule one of their special animal visits where I could bring her and talk to the children about Monarchs and explain some possibilities of what went wrong. We don't have year round schools here, or I'd look into that as well.
Later today, I will try feeding her honey water to see if that helps her regain the energy lost trying to right herself before I got her in position on my finger. I have read cases where even one day's worth of feeding gave them the boost they needed to fly normally. I am hoping that will be enough, but if not I will releasing her soon if the library says they can't fit it in. Even if she doesn't make it to her full potential life span outdoors, I'll have some comfort knowing she may serve as a lesson to a predator that saves another healthier Monarch later. Thank you.
Certainly finding a way to allow the Monarch to benefit the cause in some fashion is an honorable option. I suppose if you're still caring for it, though, whether you bring it to school or not, I see that as the "home care" option, if you want to call it that. Just a variance of it. I've euthanized two Monarchs before. It's sad. But still, to make "the best" of it, I thawed them, pinned, spread, and mounted them. Once preserved, these are the two that I use with my Science Olympiad students, and others, to learn a bit more about their anatomy and other details. If we can find a benefit, that always helps make it a better situation. Perhaps still not a good one, but a better one than it would be otherwise. Sorry that this happened.
Thank you for making this video. This is a conversation that I have had to deal with by myself for the past few days.
I came across a male Monarch yesterday missing his whole top right wing and has about 40% of his lower right.
I tried to come into contact with a butterfly santuary where I live for help, and they directed me to the animal department for my phone call to be ignored.
So I am at a crossroad with caring for him or releasing him back where I found him in the first place.
It is troubling because I can see his want to fly, he looks at his missing wing a lot.
I haven't come to a full conclusion yet on what to do, I believe in returning him, on the other hand, I fear that his death will come from the heat of the sun rather than an animal.
still having trouble, but the way you outline these options just gives me a perspective to work on making me feel less alone in my way of thinking.
yeah.. Thank you.
As there's no easy or ideal option, it's a topic not everyone wishes to discuss. Those tend to be the ones most worth a discussion, though. Thus, I decided to tackle it. I'm sorry that you've found yourself in this position, but I hope the video can help with whichever choice you make. Regardless of the option you go for, thank you for your compassion towards this individual, for sure.
You are welcome
Marilyn Russell
2 days ago
@MrLundScience Thank you Mr. LundScience, this is the best information I have found on the subject, serious, realistic, intelligent and compassionate. Since I started planting milkweed a few years back (here in Southern California) I have been seeing the miracle of metamorphosis up close, but we have had two that have appeared in the yard with crumpled wings, the first one I know fell when it emerged. I fed it oranges sliced (because I hadn't yet seen your video) which it ate greedily and would climb up on them and suck till finished. At night I covered it with a mesh bowl which I fastened in the ground inverted to protect from possible rodents and fastened in the ground inside it an artificial stem which it climbed up on to spend the night. It would crawl to the sunlight during the day, suck the fruit to eat, and climb on the perch at night. It lasted about 2 weeks until a predator apparently took it during the day. Now a year or two later a similar one appeared in the yard yesterday. I may just leave it and let nature take its course. Both of these came out of the chrysalis in winter, I am actually surprised at how many caterpillars and chrysallis we have in December, previously I had thought monarchs would migrate perhaps to Mexico for the winter but we have had many. I'm concerned if maybe my not cutting back the milkweed after summer encourages them to reproduce butterflies that can't survive because of the winter. Do you have any thoughts on this question? But thank you so much for your thoughtful video.
Greetings Marilyn, and thank you first and foremost for you compassion for these animals!
It's a tough call as to whether or not the milkweed should be cut back. My first impulse would be to not cut it back and let nature do what it does. Even in Michigan, we get "late" Monarchs where they seem to be pretty late to the Mexico migration (though not nearly as late as December). This is because a female that has been fertilized, even late in the season, still has that impulse to lay her eggs, and she will. Though not conscious of it, she's just playing the numbers, and if of the 300+ eggs she lays, only one of them make it to Mexico, well, her genes are still "in the game" so to speak. People have asked me who find Monarchs very late in the season here east of the Rockies, should they or shouldn't they release Monarchs when they know that there's a cold spell on the way and low temperatures could cause them to freeze on their way south. In such cases, I always would say that releasing must be done. If released, though very small, it still has a chance to stay in the gene pool and be a reproductive adult. If not released, it has a zero chance for that. In your case, though, things are a bit different. If the weather/temperatures are still allowing milkweed to be present, and the female is choosing to lay her eggs there, she's definitely deciding that her offspring should have a chance to grow up there. But when we factor human caused Climate Change, is it possible that warmer temperatures are causing milkweed to still be present (on average) than would be if it weren't for the warmer temperatures? If so, are we, as a species, indirectly causing Monarchs to stave off migration due to milkweed still be present? And if that's the case, cutting back milkweed may be something that would encourage her to not lay eggs and move on.
It's a tough call.
If I were in the same situation as you, I suppose, though not 100% confident with my choice, I'd not cut back the milkweed. The reason being, the number one reason Monarchs are declining in numbers, as far as the data can tell us at this point, is for lack of milkweed habitat. So, having more milkweed and more options to lay the eggs is better than less. Something else to consider is that perhaps of the 300 or so eggs that an adult female will lay, perhaps her first 275 had already been laid at earlier times. Perhaps many of her offspring were already on their way to being adults at an earlier time, and she already scored well in this genetic game. Perhaps the eggs/caterpillars/chrysalides you're encountering were just "extra" for that female or females. Perhaps they were some of the last eggs she laid that don't normally have as good of a chance as earlier ones anyway. But from the female Monarch perspective, the eggs she has that aren't laid have zero chance of making it to an adult, so might as well lay them if even late in the season, and hope for the best.
Again, I wouldn't claim that this is the best answer, but it's what I would likely choose to do if in your situation. Good luck!
@@MrLundScience I have an important update on this topic, and thank you so much for your thoughtful and thorough reply. But I need now to add that I have discovered from the Xerxes Society that in California, a non-native to CA. milkweed known as Tropical Milkweed has been widely sold and it remains and blooms all year round, which mine does. They say this encourages the monarch to breed when it should not, and in addition, because the same leaves are used over and over through the years, it carries an overload of parasites (OE). This winter I have now seen two with misshapen wings. They said the native milkweed would die back in Fall and then regrow at the appropriate time. They advise if it is Tropical Milkweed in California, to cut it back to the ground at the end of Fall or possible twice a year. And they advise that people not grow Tropical Milkweed in California, but to grow native milkweed.
xerces.org/2018/04/19/tropical-milkweed-a-no-grow/
Definitely worthy information. Environmental activism is always delicate, as we don't want to accidentally cause new problems while trying to help a different one. The ecosystem will respond with no care for what our intentions were. So, it might seem logical to some to use a type of Milkweed that is said to be "preferred" by the Monarchs without having a full picture as to what other consequences its use may have. Ecology is like weather - it always is a complex system, and thus, one that is very difficult to predict when a change occurs. I have been aware of this Tropical Milkweed issue for about a year and a half now, and some have asked that I make a video on the topic. However, doing the research to make a quality video can take time, and further, as I didn't know all of the ins and outs of it (and still don't claim to), there was plenty of research to be done. I'd never want to make a video where this Michigan boy is telling those in California or Arizona what they are supposed to be doing. I think that'd look pretentious. Still, I've looked into this a lot in the last year, and am pretty sure I'm ready to weigh in on it this summer. My plans for the next season include focusing more on the relationship between Monarchs and the Milkweed they feed from, and what details are there that have yet to be covered. So, while I can't promise it, likely a Tropical Milkweed video is on the horizon.
@@MrLundScience Thank You!
Good video, thanks! We are dealing with this situation at the moment.
I am having this issue now with a butterfly. I released 4 butterflies today, and noticed one was struggling a little. It managed to fly, but was flying low to the ground and kept on stopping on the fence, the car, the side of the house. I left the butterfly alone thinking it will just take this one a little longer. Tonight my husband and I come home and the monarch is waiting for us on our front door. We tried to get it to fly, but poor thing just couldn't fly right. Opened our door, butterfly flew in and landed in our turtle tank. I immediately fished it out of the water, and I have the butterfly back in our indoor enclosure for tonight. Haven't figured out what I'm going to do yet. I am at home for the next month recovering from knee surgery, so I do have some extra time on my hands.
Wait another day, try a few more times, if nothing improves than it's probably too late😭
You are the most recent comment, so i also have a question, if it's ok with you?
I have a beautiful monarch, and he is not able to fly. It almost seems like his wings are paralyzed. other than that, he seems fine, but his wings are stuck open
I'm not sure what 2 do...
Thanks so much for your videos. We just had a monarch hatch yesterday on our front porch (from nature, we are not raising them but we plant milkweed for them) and it was on the ground crumpled and struggling to survive. My first thought was to let nature take its course. But after I saw it was still alive last night, my heart broke and I had to help it. Its wings are badly deformed but hes hanging in there. I fed it some sugar water and mango based on your feeding video (so helpful!) He ate but i dont think he's doing well. He's barely moving. I may choose option 2 and maybe let him be the one that teaches the birds a lesson. As heartbreaking as that sounds, I know nature has to run its course and it is what it is. Now I just need to figure out what's the best flower to place him on....
Thank you for making this informative video. I have been plagued with many monarchs being malformed and crimped wings .I have been struggling on what to do as it has been very difficult to get one viable adult out of 15 catapillers. I would like to get more information on the parasites and how to promote better health for this majestic beauty.
If you search into TH-cam "OE Parasite" multiple videos come up. Some are mine, but there's plenty of others that are very informative as well. Good luck!
Thank you for making this video! I was able to release 18 Monarch butterflies a month ago here in Texas. However # 19 emerged with crumpled wings and unfortunately he has been unable to fly away. I've kept him in the laundry basket I raised the caterpillars in and have been feeding him. I'm sticking firmly with option one even though it is time consuming. I feel like I can't choose any other option.
Thank you so much for this video. I have a baby with deformed wings and didn't know what to do. This is so heartbreaking and I think I will leave them outside in the future and just continue to plant lots of milkweed😭😭😭😭😭
For some people there may be one more option, although not everyone would have it. I live close to the Detroit Zoo which has a wonderful butterfly sanctuary. If this situation presented itself I would approach the zoo and see it they would take in the butterfly. It would provide a great living condition with other butterflies to socialize with and would be safe. I have not had to do this but there are a number of places that have created butterfly sanctuaries. Perhaps it may be an option to consider.
That's not too bad of an idea, but I'm willing to bet that they wouldn't take it in for fear (and a warranted one) of some type of pathogen being transferred into their butterfly house. It's not normal, and thus, not a risk to let people in to see the butterflies, but letting in an external butterfly presents risk. And as the time and resources put in to their own is likely a high enough cost, I doubt they'd risk it. And we're talking about just normal looking ones. If your butterfly has something like crumpled wings, a disfigurement, or some other visible situation that prevents it from flying, they'd easily see this as a risk. You could always call and ask, but I'm guessing it'd be a "no", and they'd likely refer you to a DNR nature center. (I'm guessing too, at the DNR, they'd probably first offer one of these three options... Again, just guessing. I don't claim to know this. But, it's what I'd predict.)
They more than likely won't take it. I live in TX a lot of times I have Monarchs come though in October that for whatever reason they lay eggs, they eat, pupate and hatch or eclose in November sometimes December when it's too late to release due to weather. I've asked the butterfly house in Houston "Cockrell Butterfly Center" if they would take them in. They've said they'll take them but they won't provide milkweed for eggs and they won't care for damaged butterflies. I don't think it's much of a fear for parasites, because I believe they're getting the exotic butterflies from a international supplier, but a lack of time in order to care for a damaged butterfly
Robert Gotshall
I tried that a few years ago... I had a monarch I raised with wing problems and I also found a monarch that was still alive but had severely damaged wings... I made the mistake of taking them to the zoo near me where a friend of mine was working over the summer at the time...... they had a beautiful butterfly sanctuary.... my friend watched her coworker feed them to a reptile at the zoo. Of course I was not there to confirm but my friend was in tears when she told me. Of course that was just the way of That zoo and not all zoos.
You are right, Rich. As a follow up. I just happen to have this condition present itself today (8/15/18). A chrysalis was attached to a side wall of one of my containers and resulted in a flat area of the chrysalis. This resulted in a damaged wing and antenna. Based on what I feel and said above, I drove to the Detroit Zoo and had a conversation, regarding this situation, with Stephen (the person in charged of the butterfly house at the zoo). He gave me his time to explain that: due to an invasive species law ( we only briefly discussed this but I believe it on a federal level), they do not take in from other than their sources. It is not the butterfly itself but what it may have that could affect the environment in the butterfly house. One interesting fact is that they get their chrysalises from Costa Rica and El Salvador. They also do not have any monarchs - which is interesting. Stephen was a wealth of information regarding environmental invasive situations and the history of the same. This situation may exist at a number of locations due to regulations alone. detroitzoo.org/animals/zoo-animals/butterfly/
That is pretty interesting as far as their butterfly source, but also makes sense as I would assume people at the zoo wish to see the exotics. Hopefully if we continue our efforts, Monarchs never become an exotic to North America.
But, yeah, I'm not surprised they wouldn't take it. It is an unknown to them, and what types of pathogens it could have. While zoos aren't all about the money, they must see taking in an unknown as a costly risk, as those butterfly houses have plenty of money invested in their insects.
Wow!! Thank you so much for this I’ve been kinda new at this whole thing ..first it was the wasps and maybe flies..attacking the caterpillars...then I had 2 fully develop and born and launched into the world ...well this morning our newest beauty not only has a much smaller wing but a front leg that seems damaged ...I’m sooo sad
Thanks for doing these videos and all the work you do. At this point not sure what I’ll do w this latest beauty
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I’m so sorry 😐. My first season too! Released two beauties and my next 9 may have had one cool night I didn’t bring inside! They have some black spots:(
Hi, it’s not easy, and I was so sorry to read how you both had to experience this. I have been there twice myself, and now facing this possibly for a third time, which is why I returned to this video today. But note that it is only three times in 3 seasons- (3 years and with over about 250+ healthy ones released)- that a MB emerged and ultimately was unable to fly, each w/ different circumstances, all 3 leaving me with tough decisions to make. Again all with different answers. It ultimately of course is up to you, like me, to decide. I could not have done it without Mr. R. Lund. I get it. It was so bad, and I actually wasn’t sure if I could go through the chance of having to lose one again, partially blaming myself, but uncertain, though I know that we do the best we can as long as we are constantly improving and learning about techniques wild-rearing these beauties. It’s not like we just jump into this without some good basic knowledge.I keep in mind that only 5% - maybe between 5-10% tops- of them in the wild even survive to become adult butterflies. Once in this past early spring I spotted the 1st mother Monarch Butterfly gliding among the garden’s tiny, newly sprouting Common Milkweed, and was stunned to see her stopping on each leaf and plant, carefully laying new shimmering eggs! I was very excited, and that was it, I began anew. I have kept data on the numbers of so many healthy MBs that I have released this season, but honestly I have been too busy to tally how many; I know it’s more than ever before and it kept me busy but I kept up fine, especially since I have been sequestered and focused at home these past months, which is why I decided to go for it. This this weekend I am hopefully releasing the last very 3 or 4 adult MB from the last group of close to 100. Be sure btw to see his videos about how to feed a MB that cannot fly, and the another around euthanasia. He never tells anyone what they should or should not do, but offers information to better enable others to decide what to do. This is what I think I admire most about him. OK now- I cannot answer for him, to whom I give so much credit for helping with outstanding videos and sense of compassion, but I noticed that he does sometimes try to check in and answer questions; also you may see his more recent activity by scanning through some of his other videos including the more recent one 2019 about wild-rearing MBs outdoors. You may want to follow him on his Instagram account, too. He did note in one of his TH-cam videos that he hadn’t been here as much as he would truly like to - 2020- since the pandemic of course greatly impacted him, his work at school, and his students, meaning spending lots of needed important time on that work. Best to you, stay safe, he would surely say thank you for doing what you can do, plant milkweed, and stay tuned!
Thanks for this video as a newbie to butterflies im going through this with one right now that’s literally fighting to live! But can’t get its wings to quite open
you are so correct about option number one i´m currently taking care of a monarch butterfly and it had fallen when it hatched from its chrysalis and me and my sister had found it on the ground and we took it in and some times i take it outside she really likes to go outside
I'm glad that you found an option you are comfortable with. Thank you for your compassion.
Lund i absolutely live your knowledge with all this and my wife and I raise these beautiful butterflies and we are facing a first time wing break but watched videos ppl fixing them with super glue using other wings from those who where not as fortunate would there be any way to get in personal contact with you to share a picture of the broken wing to see if this would be easier to line up the good wing and snip it to match them both since it looks less the 40% broken or should we try the procedure fixing the wing. Thanks so much and my wife and I absolutely love your videos again bud. Lots of knowledge you give.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for what you do!
Welcome, welcome, and welcome! Thanks for doing what you can to help out the Monarch butterflies!
We have a bunch of cocoons in our patio. Today we noticed a butterfly on its back on the floor. We think he had fallen off of its chrysalis while it was pumping fluid. We kept flipping it over onto its feet but I thinks it’s wings were injured. Glad we found this video bc we wanted to help it. We ended up putting the butter fly on a flower so it could enjoy nature while it can.