How animals survive the winter

white-tail deer at the bird feeders

Humans often hole themselves up in their houses to survive the winter in front of the fire with hot chocolate. However, animals have to survive the frigid chill outside in the elements, and they have different ways of dealing with the change in seasons. Let’s take a quick look at how these Iowa animals survive. Read More »

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Why do monarchs overwinter in Mexico?

roosting monarch butterflies

Most people familiar with monarch butterflies know that they migrate to central Mexico to overwinter. You can read in-depth how monarchs find their way here, but in general, they use their circadian rhythm to orient themselves with the direction of the sun and also use the earth’s magnetic field to fly toward the equator. However, Read More »

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2019-20 Monarch overwintering numbers released

Graphic about monarch populations

Each winter, pollinator enthusiasts anxiously await monarch population numbers as eastern populations overwinter in the forests of Mexico. This winter, we have some less than ideal news as monarch overwintering numbers dropped by more than 50 percent from the 2018-19 season — going from 6.05 hectares of overwintering area covered last year to 2.83 hectares Read More »

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