Hello world, welcome to WFHR's rapid support, probably brought to you by
Crockett Sceptic for this September 4th, 2025. September 11th, I don't know why I
said that. I love you to fix that post. We appreciate you joining us whatever the
day is and certainly we can talk to her every day. We have Kathy McGrath with us
along with Pat McGrath. We're gonna be talking minor migration among other
things today. Thank you both for joining us. Kathy, it was good to see you.
Good to see you too. Appreciate the time and why don't we start right there
before I get too distracted by this beautiful butterfly that you brought into
the studio here. Three of them are the three always. Oh now there's no hope for me.
You take over Kathy. You just go ahead and talk. Well this is monarch migrating
season and we brought along three monarch butterflies today that we will
tag. Of course the people on the radio can't see it but we will talk you
through it and they will feel like they've seen it. This is the they're called
the Mathusa La generation of monarchs because they are the super generation.
These are the migrating monarchs that we release today will be the ones that
will travel hopefully all the way to Mexico. If everything is correct for them
all the way down there which is a big thing to happen. But this
generation because they're called the super generation they live longer than
the ones that we have released in June, July or the first part of August. We
actually start tagging them in mid August and it has to do with our latitude.
Correct. And Pat will tell you what our latitude is and why that happens. Which
is just as interesting I think as some of this and the way those things work.
What's interesting is how this little creature can sense all of this. You
were at about 44 degrees for our latitude. So I think our date for starting to
tag is around August 10th. But anyway what happens around that time is the
jet stream which is normally from the south during the summer comes from the
north during this time of year. And a lot of people think oh and they migrate
are they flapping their wings that whole time? No. They go up about five to
10,000 feet and put their wings out and ride the jet stream. So you remember
when you first rode your bike and you were able to coast like that's the first
thing you think of or something like that. That's such a cool thing to think of
them doing that. That's interesting. And the other thing that's interesting is
that they shut down their reproductive system. That's saving all their energy
for the migration and surviving through the winter down in Mexico. And then in
late February early March a switch flips in their system and it turns back on.
They start reproducing as they move toward Texas and Arizona stuff. So it's...
They're just one of the most amazing things on this planet. They just simply put.
They really are. Their whole story, everything about them. They are marvelous.
The marvelous monarchs. And like Pant said you know they ride those thermal
currents so they can travel up to a hundred miles a day but they're not flapping
their wings the whole time because they know how to get how to get there easier.
It's a very smart form of travel. I don't know what the airline miles you get for
something like that but it is a very smart way of traveling. And they're just
hoping they have nectar along the way. Yes, absolutely. They also you know the
monarchs are so small. They weigh less than a paperclip but they are very sturdy.
When you think of how far they travel and we have... I brought certificates with
me of our monarchs that we have released in Port Edwards that have found been
found over 1,800 miles away. It's so incredible. And you know people will say
why would you ever do this? Why would you tag a butterfly? Well it was the late
70s or mid 70s. About 1974. When they actually found out they knew that the
migrates, the monarchs left Wisconsin and they left the United States but they
weren't sure where they went to. And that's when they found out that they went
to these groves in Mexico. Yeah. So it's a whole thing and this is why we
tag them because scientists are using this knowledge to learn everything they
can about the monarchs. So when they first started tagging them in the 70s, the
tag looked very different than it does now. It was square and it was bigger.
Both the size of your keyboard, weight keyboard but yeah. And the scientists found
that it did affect their flight and they didn't fly as well. So the scientists
did lots of research finding out what size and where to put it on the butterfly
would work the best. So I brought my finger puppet along. So James is seen where
the sticker goes. It goes over what's called the discol D I S C A L cell and they
found that that's the best place to put it for the flight. It's a little bit
on the lower part of the wing a little to the right sort of correct. Looks like
a mitten. Yeah. Yeah. If you drew your hand around it, it would be like a
mitten. And then we record everything that is on that little sticker. It's the
size of a pencil eraser. So it's really small. And there's always a number and a
code on that sticker with letters first and the numbers. So when I was teaching
kindergarten doing this with my students, you know, I'd have one of them come up
and I'd say this is why it's important that you know your letters and your
numbers because if I don't write down the correct code, it won't do any good for
the scientists to learn from this. So that and they're really small. The older I
got, I needed my glasses to read those letters and numbers, but the children
could read them pretty easily. But of course, I would always check to make sure
that they'd given me the right code. So in a little bit, we will actually tag
these butterflies so that you can see how that goes. And you yourselves tag them.
You got that's amazing too. That's pretty cool. I think I just wanted to note that
because I think that's just as awesome as some of the other things you're
mentioning. Right. We always order the tags through an organization called
Monarch Watch USA, which is out of the University of Kansas. So we pay for the
stickers and this year we ordered 300. We order them before we really know how
many we are going to use. But we are going to run out of stickers this year.
Wow. Oh, that's good news. We still have a lot of butterflies to take and I only
have 10 stickers left, which we'll be using three of them today. We have 30
stickers left from last year that we've already used. So by the end of the
season, we will have tagged about 330. Wow. Wow. That seems like a big
increase from last year. It is. It's been a really good season for the
Monarchs. We're going to be close to 1,000 butterflies this year. That we have
released. But of course, it started early because we found our first eggs may
18th. Right after Mother's Day. Yeah, I remember you told them. Yes. And so, you
know, that many butterflies over the season, but it's a full-time job in the
summer. Yeah. Yeah. To feed all those hungry caterpillars because they eat a
lot of milkweed. And then now because our weather has been cooler, they slow
down. They don't eat nearly as fast as they did before. And when we're ready
to release the butterflies, if it's cool, they stick around a lot longer, too,
because they're smart. They wait for the weather to be perfect for them to take
off when they know that they can fly. But Pat was telling me the next couple
of weeks they're supposed to get really warm again. So the ones that we're
going to be releasing. That's going to be back and forth for them. Yeah. They'll
have a good start. Actually, it's kind of interesting because the on the
William v. Grasslands, you know, that's what are east of a calmer. This time of
year, if there are a lot of monarchs migrating through and the nights get
cold, you can actually go out there, head either dawn or dusk, and you'll see
clusters of monarchs hanging in some of the trees. Wow. Oh, oh, but I now
really want to do that. Yeah, I really, really want to do that. And of course,
you never know, because we have not seen it this year. Right. But we've seen it
some years. You and you never know where they're going to be. Yeah. So people
would say, where did you see that? And we can tell them a certain road. But that
doesn't mean they're going to be there the next night. Yeah. Yeah. Or morning.
But yeah, that's really cool to see. Fantastic. Thank you so much for that
update and everything that's going on with these. Now you mentioned that you're
going to be using three of these tags today. Is that what we're going to be
doing today? Oh, how exciting. That's so cool. So I brought my clipboard with all
my tagging information. And we are on the 12th page because there's is a 25
of page, I think. Anyway, and so what I have to do is write down the code that
is on this little sticker. And while she's doing that, Pat has gently grabbed
one of the butterflies out of the netting and is ready to this little guy.
And that's a female. Oh, that is so cool. Oh, it's so beautiful. Yeah.
We'll show you later, but the meal has black dots on it's low. I see.
Oh, interesting. Okay. I have written down this code. And it is a L L S
2 4 0. And I took that little sticker off of my sticker sheet tagging sheet
with a toothpick because if I've got any oils on my finger, I don't want it on
the bottom of the sticker because I want this to stick to that butterfly.
It's got a long ways to go. And so now I'm going to write down the date.
And this was another good thing with children. What what month is it?
It's September, but we if we start in January, what number month is that?
So they would learn that. So today is the ninth. It's the 11th day.
So I've written that down. The year is 20, 25. And then I'd show them the
year is not going to change when I do all these because it's the same year.
We're not going to put 26 because we're not there yet. So Pat already told us it
was a female. So I am going to put an F down here because we need to either
write F for female or M for male. And then the next column, you either write
an R for reared or raised is what we do with these.
You can also take a net and go out in the wild and catch them.
We have enough to do with the ones that we raise. Although last year, you
did catch a couple that we get in our yard and we did tag them.
So that's that. Then you write down the place that you're releasing from.
So I've got Port Edward's written down the state. Another thing they needed to tell me.
It's Wisconsin. What is our zip code? That needs to be written down and then what
country? Because some of these monarchs in Canada, they would start taking
before we did because they're up high. Interesting. So our monarchs, these that we're
releasing are the third generation. The ones that we we closed in June.
That's the first generation. Then it was into July and the first part of August,
second generation. These are the third generation. But the ones from Canada would
have been their fourth generation. So it all depends on where they're at.
So I've got this little sticker on a toothpick and Pats holding the female.
And I'm going to press it right down on that disco cell and then Pats will put his
finger on and press it a little bit. Normally at home, we would take it right outside.
Here James will let you let you hold it and look at it. Thank you.
I want people to be sensitive with these beautiful things and be careful with them.
At the same time, I am blown away by how durable they are. I'm so sorry, Pats.
It's okay. It went to the window. It was too light.
But with these hands, I should not drop or fumble anything. They're gigantic.
When it comes to them, and that is great that it goes right to the window.
Yeah, and we are very good at catching modern.
It's so kind of bad. We've come pros at it. It happens.
It's amazing to me how hesitant to use the word durable, but how strong a durable
their wings are. It really just blows you away if you haven't ever touched one before.
Thank you for doing that.
And they're flexible. That's the other part.
People think of them as being rigid like on the old wooden planes that you've bound up
over over a band. But they're covered with scales like a fish, and so there's a lot of flexibility
to them. And amazing feel to them.
Yes, yes.
And even when they're damaged, they can still fly, you know, because you'll see some old ones that are
faded, maybe a bird took a chunk out of one of the wings, and you know, they can still fly.
That's a tough insect right there.
You know, and I have had some people say to me, why do you do this and hurt those butterflies?
Well, obviously we know that I have six certificates here to show you of hours that have been found
in Mexico. So we know that they make it. And we're not hurting them.
Obviously they put up with all kinds of weather in nature like hurricanes and tornadoes and
bad storms and hail. They know what to do. And if we put them outside today and they're not ready
to take off, they will probably find a tree to huddle in until the weather gets sunny and warm
enough for them to take off and they will go. So, you know, people sometimes don't understand,
and if they've never seen the process, they don't get it. But when we show them what we're
actually doing, these people say, wow, that's really something.
Well, and you know, this comes back to something, and it's interesting how we, you know,
had Janelle and before, and we were talking a little bit about this, encourage if you didn't
listen to that interview, everybody. And the importance of so much of this, when you get to be
at the top of the food chain, that doesn't mean that you're just sitting there at the top of the
hill or anything that comes with responsibility. It comes with keeping this thing moving,
keeping things going. Janelle talks about not so much of food chain, but of food web. And you
take one little part of that web away and that affects everything. Our pollinators, our butterflies,
our insects, our bees, these are gigantic parts of things. So, as to steal a line from her,
do you like to eat? I feel like we're going to get a pretty high percentage of the audience that
loves to food, loves to eat. That's a big part of what we're doing here. That's a big part of
this. It's all connected. It is fun and interesting. And if you just told me, hey, this is just cool.
I'm all in. I'm with you on this. It's very interesting. But we know that some people out there
that takes a little bit more to maybe get them over and understanding why this is so important.
Why, you know, marking these and, you know, so these scientists can get this data, this information.
We can migrate, catch, follow this migration. It's important for us to pay attention to our pollinators.
It's important to have this data. Again, we like to eat. Food is important. Yes. It all is connected.
We are all connected. Right. And I have had people say to me, what is the big deal with you
in these monarchs? You know, and I say exactly what you just said, James, they are pollinators.
Sometimes people don't know what that even means. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, we give presentations to
children, but also to a lot of adults and a lot of adults don't understand the whole thing. So,
it's all education. Was there anything else that you wanted to mention as far as an update
or about them on our project itself, Kathy? I think the only thing, like we found a lot of monarchs
this year and people throughout Wisconsin have. And we've been checking the journey north.
Journey north and out in California, the Western, you know, there's a Western group that are
west of the Rockies and the Eastern group is everything east of the Rockies. And they're
counting a lot of butterflies. So, last year for everybody was a really low year. This year
seems to be a really good year, but it bounces back and forth. You know, we have to think that
the more people who are doing this kind of thing went in the wild, maybe five to 10 percent
become a butterfly. With raising them, you get about 80 to 90 percent become a butterfly,
that has to help increase the numbers. And that's the name of the game.
Well said, Pat. Thank you. I appreciate that. Also, really encouraging to hear so much of that.
So much of what you both have shared with us today. Kathy, I love talking butterflies with you.
I love talking about this subject. I would be remiss to the community if I didn't do my job and
also remind everybody you are out and about in the community doing a lot of good and doing some
reading with our kids. And you're going to be at that again. You got preschool story time coming up,
don't you? Yes. At the Ed Horrier Elementary School in Port Edwards, I do a preschool story time
every Wednesday at 11 o'clock for 45 minutes. And children from anywhere can come, don't have to
live in Port Edwards. You can come from Rapids. You can come from Nicosia. Someone needs to stay
there with their child. It can be a grandma or grandpa, babysitter, whatever. But I've already got
12 students that are registered for it. And we just have a lot of fun. I read a book and we do
puppets and do nursery rhymes and songs. And it's just a very easy going thing. And then the first
Saturday of every month, I do a preschool story time at our little cafe, L Cafe in Port Edwards.
And last Saturday, I had 15 children there. Awesome. Oh, cool. You know, and it's usually not
the same group all the time, although I do. We have some regulars that never miss. And it's just fun
and all ages come to that from babies and arms to kids that are in fifth and sixth grade.
We actually take butterflies. Oh, cool. Parents and the kids at Saturday. Yeah. And when we were,
then we stayed in eight lunch at the cafe and we were probably there an hour and we went outside
and six of the butterflies were right where we'd left. Because it was really cool. It was really
cool. It was sunny, but it was cool. And the plants that we put them on were in the shade and they
hadn't taken off yet. So we educated one more person that showed up when we were, she was standing
there looking at him and she said, you know, what's this all about? And so we were telling her,
she just couldn't believe it. And she had never heard and she would, she had just come out of the
cafe and was going to her car. That's awesome. You are awesome, Kathy. I was telling you both
beforehand and everything. The impact you guys make in the community and how we don't often know
what we do sometimes. It's the kind of how life works. We keep moving forward, keep going. We
don't necessarily do things for that reason. But I just have to tell you both that any time I
mentioned to our guests or they hear Pam comes in and brings in the schedule and tells us, hey,
Kathy and Pat are going to become by the way my guests are my co-hosts light up at that.
And I feel it and see it throughout the whole community. Your impact, what you guys do is felt
and appreciated. And I thank you so much for putting up with my silly questions and hanging out
with us and giving me a chance to hang out with a butterfly. The touch one, I don't know if I've
ever touched a butterfly like that before. That was awesome. Take one out so that he can feel how
the feel of it's really cramped. If the legs have like fish hooks on them. So you'll be able to feel
maybe I have not felt that before. Yeah, that's interesting. That one's take that one.
This is a nice big male. Oh, you're oh, wow, is that weird? Oh, that is so cool.
Tell him what's happening. So it is it is very much like you guys were describing. They almost
have like a stick them to them a little bit of a pole. They really do grab. Oh, I can see how
they can hang on to things so well. And so, you know, that is amazing. Thank you, Pam.
Thank you, my children or here. Let's take them so I can cut them out. Yeah, yeah. Look here,
there's the you can see the black dot more when the wings are open. They can see that
low black smudge there. This is a male. And he has a black dot on both lower wings. That's how you
can. Very cool. Oh, I gotta remember that. I gotta remember that. James, this is my show.
Oh, yeah, Kathy showing me a diagram of one. Oh, yeah, I see it now. So I will mark this time.
Oh, I'll look for that every time now. As a male. No, Kathy doesn't know the mathematics of these
numbers. You're the math. Okay, somebody's got to do the math guy. Yeah, it gives you a job.
When they started out, they probably were using all numbers. And now they're using numbers and
letters. And the reason is there are 26 letters in the alphabet, but only 10 digits. So you multiply
all those together. And that's it's just a license plate. It's good stuff, Pam, but we got you
too far away from the point. I'm sorry. I didn't want to interrupt you. You were rolling. But
it's it's really good information. And there it appreciates so much. You guys sharing this
information hanging out with us and doing what you do in the community. Kathy is great about letting
us know when she's doing different events and has stuff going on at the libraries or or something
like that. So we'll keep you up to date and where they'll be out and about. And we'll be talking
again real soon. I'm sure. Kathy Pat, thank you so much for the time. You're welcome. Thanks for
having us. And a big thank you to you all for joining us here at WFHR's Rapids Report.
