The Legendary Valley of the Monarch Butterflies

Michoacan, Mexico

January 2003

“Where DO the Monarch Butterflies go every year?” was one of the great etymological mysteries up until the 1980s, when a Canadian Doctor started super gluing tiny messages, with a phone number and reward, on the backs of hundreds of Monarchs. When the valley was finally discovered, researchers were stunned. Countless millions of monarchs covered the pine trees. Some many, in fact, that the sturdy pine bows bent down and appeared to be covered with dead leaves. Now consider that it takes more than 1000 butterflies to make one pound. How much weight do you suppose it takes to bend a healthy pine limb? Amazing. The monarchs hang out until the sun comes out, then they fill the sky. Breathtakingly beautiful. Eventually, they all die, littering the ground with the colorful bodies. Only the NEXT generation of Monarchs make the return two thousand miles flight back to Canada!

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