Page 1 - The Friday Flyer ● AUGUST 03, 2018
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CANYON LAKE’S NEWSPAPER • AUGUST 3, 2018
Paddle & Pedal sets sail at Woman's Club kicks Seniors enjoy luau
off 2018/2019 themed potluck at
Indian Beach next weekend Pg. A7 season Pg. A12 senior center Pg. A15
Ted Horton is devoted to helping reverse the decline of monarch butterfl ies in the
area. He is pictured in the butterfl y-friendly habitat he created in his backyard.
PHOTO BY NANCY HORTON
Canyon Laker helps to reverse
decline of monarch butterflies
BY PAT VAN DYKE to thrive. weather which makes Canyon Lake an ideal migration
COLUMNIST, THE FRIDAY FLYER Thirty-five years ago, a young couple from the Neth- location.
Thirty-five years ago, Canyon Lake was nestled erlands visited Canyon Lake at the beginning of their However, the entire pollination process has been
in-between life-giving hills. Hills that were alive with six-week-long travels in the United States. Both being limited by the expansive development of open spaces,
growth: flowers and plants that were part of the polli- lepidopterists (individuals who study and collect but- droughts, use of pesticides, and other items which are
nation process that enabled the insects and other plants terflies), their mission was to observe and identify but- not pollinator friendly.
terflies native to the regional areas of the West Coast. Canyon Lake no longer has the abundance of plants
Within an hour after their arrival, they caught a and insects, especially butterflies, which were once
monarch butterfly which proved to be their most amaz- prevalent in the area. In addition to Canyon Lake, other
ing find during their entire trip. They were impressed cities and some rural areas have also noticed the same
with the abundance of butterflies and moths that they decline. According to Marcus Gray, Biologist at Audu-
found in the Canyon Lake area. bon International: “In the last 20 years, monarch but-
At one time, monarch butterflies and other various terflies have declined by 90 percent. Since the 1980’s,
butterflies and moths were found in abundance in Can- butterflies generally, across all species, have declined
yon Lake, but since the 1990s there has been a notice- by 40 percent.”
PHOTO BY PAT VAN DYKE appear in the area. situation very seriously. Ted became intrigued with the
Canyon Lake resident, Ted Horton, is taking this
able decline. The past few years, these insects seldom
Long-time residents can remember having to clean monarch butterflies since visiting the pine groves in
Pacific Grove, California, when he and his wife Nancy
the windshield of their car after driving down Newport
of the year, the trees were aglitter with fluttering but-
tion. Monarch butterflies are not able to survive the
At one time, monarch butterfl ies were found in abundance in Road during the time of the monarch butterfly migra- lived in Monterey during the 1990s. At certain times
Canyon Lake. They have declined by 90 percent in the last cold winters of most of the United States so they mi- terflies, resting during their migratory travels along the
20 years. grate south and west each autumn to escape the cold CONTINUED PAGE A14