8
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Magnitude
4.2
earthquake
hits oregon,
no damage
reported
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
Saving the
monarch butterfly
SPRINGFIELD (AP) —
Some Oregonians woke on
the Fourth of July to a signif-
icant jolt when a magnitude
4.2 earthquake struck near
Springfield and Eugene.
Hundreds of peo-
ple reported to the U.S.
Geological Survey that they
felt the quake, which struck
at 8:42 a.m. Saturday.
USGS Geophysicist
Paul Caruso says there usu-
ally isn’t any damage from
quakes lower than magnitude
5.5.
City of Springfield offi-
cials said they haven’t
received any reports of dam-
age from residents or to
infrastructure.
The Oregon Department
of Transportation, which
conducted visual inspections
of bridges in the Eugene-
Springfield area, said there
was no damage to any road-
ways or bridges.
The quake was cen-
tered about 12 miles east
of Eugene. It was about
four miles deep, which
Caruso says is considered
shallow.
The monarch butterfly
is in a world of hurt. Right
off the bat it has problems
because it’s so unique; it’s
a migratory insect that flies
thousands of miles to sur-
vive winter, then return to
continue life in northern
latitudes — and they travel
right through our neck of the
woods.
Everyone knows birds
migrate and do it in astound-
ing numbers, astounding
ways and astounding dis-
tances. They’re built for it.
Some shore birds stop for
refueling in North America
and then make the next hop
of their flight non-stop to
South America and return
the following spring. But an
insect? A butterfly?
Unlike a bird, when the
monarch begins its voyage
back to its summer haunts
the individual never gets
there. Monarchs move by
generational progress. To
survive as a species they
must have the plants to pro-
duce the next generation of
monarchs to continue the
voyage north, and there is
HUNGRY QUILTERS
STOP HERE!
only one type of plant they
can use: milkweed.
That’s where you, me,
and the rest of the human
society along the monarch’s
flyways come into the pic-
ture. We must supply them
with not only the milkweed,
but the nectaring plants as
well. I say, “must,” because
it’s we humans who have
destroyed — and are still
destroying — the habitat
monarchs MUST have to
survive on Earth.
And it’s not very diffi-
cult. All you have to do is
pick out an area in your front
or backyard, corner of your
kitchen garden or picnic
area where you’d like to see
Monarch butterflies stop on
their way north and south,
or better yet, spend the sum-
mer with you. The area you
set aside will be known as a
Monarch Waystation.
Run on down to Tumalo
Gardens, or Wintercreek
Nursery over by the USFS
headquarters and you can
purchase everything you
need to begin your very own
Monarch Waystation on your
very own property. You can
also contact Monarch Watch
at (Shop.MonarchWatch.
org.) for seed and other
monarch supplies.
The more people who
take on this project the less
chance the monarch will
end up on the Endangered
Species List, and the more
joy you will have when that
magnificent insect grows
from egg to adult. That in
itself is quite a show.
Here’s all you’ll need:
Showy milkweed (Asclepias
speciosa) and narrowleaf
milkweed (Asclepias fas-
cicularis). Narrowleaf will
grow in this area, but the
Showy Milkweed will often
do better, with adequate irri-
gation. The following list
of nectaring plants is just
a suggestion; some of you
master gardeners know more
about what you can grow
and enjoy than I do … and
yes, hummingbirds will also
enjoy your efforts.
• Blue sage (Salvia
farinacea).
• Chia
(Salvia
columbariae).
• Scarlet sage (Salvia
coccinea).
• Tithonia torch, Mexican
Sunflower (Tithonia).
• Zinnia, dahlia mix
(Zinnia elegans).
If you have any ques-
tions, suggestions, or just
want to share what you’re
doing — or about to do —
to ensure survival of the
monarch butterfly, feel free
to send me an email: jim@
northwestnaturalist.net.
Love to hear from you.
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