TPW Magazine October Preview
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife
The October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine celebrates one creature’s incredible journey. Managing Editor, Louie Bond.
This month we’re going to highlight one of the most spectacular natural events anywhere, which is the monarch migration, which actually happens during October. These delicate little creatures that look like they could hardly fly into your neighbor’s yard actually fly 2000 miles every year.
It takes several lifetimes to complete this. One butterfly doesn’t fly all the way down to Mexico and then back the next year; it takes several generations.
It makes you ask how do they know where to go, or when to go there, or what to do? But it’s this curious natural instinct. They can calculate, apparently, not only latitude, but longitude.
And it’s quite the spectacle every year when they come through Texas. Entomologist, Mike Quinn, tells us that his phone line starts lighting up every October. And, he’s had people calling, he says, from the 20th floor of high rise apartment buildings to say that the monarch had just flown past their windows.
So, it’s an incredible feat. But for me, I just have my mouth hanging open in awe and wonder at these tiny little creatures making this great journey.
The October issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.
For Texas parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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