MICHIGAN – In today’s dose of good news … A Michigan boy is on a mission to save the monarch butterfly, one milkweed seed packet at a time.
Liam is not your average 6 year old, and he has a title that precedes him …
“Lepidopterist … A lepidopterist is a scientist who studies moths and butterflies!” Says Liam.
At the age of 2 he fell in love with the flying insects, and at the age of 3 he started working to save their dying population and it all starts with a plant.
“Yes, milkweed … that’s the basic plant for monarchs to lay their eggs in, and the caterpillars start to nibble on it,” says Liam.
The more milkweed that is planted, the more places for monarchs to lay eggs and eat. That’s why Liam started his Amigos for Monarchs project, where he sends out milkweed seeds so people can plant them anywhere, which he thinks is super easy.
First, make a hole in some soil, then put the milkweed seeds in the hole and then “you can cover it and then water it”. Says Liam. As simple as that.
Liam has set a goal for 2021: Send 500 packets of seeds before the growing season ends.
“We originally started the chase to see how often we’d gone to the post office, and we barely lost track of it,” says Betsy.
No matter how many trips it took, today was something special …
“21 of these amigos for the monarch’s seed packets!” Says Liam.
“Yes, with this batch, Liam has now reached his goal of shipping 500 seed kits,” says Betsy.
Liam has shipped these kits everywhere, as far as Texas and California, but any trip to the post office wouldn’t be complete without a little fan mail.
“It says thank you very much for the butterfly seed kits,” says Betsy. “We will plant them. . . “
