Published Aug. 1 2017

To the Editor

This letter’s headline is not referring to the British Royal Family! Rather to the monarch butterfly which many know has been in significant decline the past number of years.
One of the cited reasons for the drop in numbers has been the elimination of milkweed by current agricultural practices. Milkweed is the sole food of the monarch caterpillar and an abundance of healthy plants is essential for the successful life cycle of this once familiar butterfly.
But this year the monarch population seems to be on the rebound as many sightings have been recorded locally and provincially.

Imagine my surprise and great pleasure to see that the Dysart mowing operators cutting along Kennaway and Dudley roads had intentionally lifted their mowers to spare all the milkweed. Even single plants were left standing while the rest of the roadside vegetation was cut short. (Hopefully this is policy for all local roads.)
Many thanks to these folks for going out of their way to help bring back the monarch butterfly!

Bob Heyes