Watch Thousands of Butterflies Take Over This Maine Farm
Just four years ago in Knox County, Maine, Monarch butterflies population was at an all-time low. Between increased use of Roundup killing their natural habitat and environmental factors, the Monarch butterfly population plummeted from their highest point in the mid-1990s to a staggeringly low number in 2015.
When Heather Halsey bought her farm in Washington, Maine around that time, she decided to leave a large field of milkweed to encourage the remaining few butterflies to stick around. Halsey's hope came true tenfold, as thousands of butterflies have taken over the farm, according to Bangor Daily News.
The countless chrysalises attached inconspicuously to the undersides of baseboards and truck rims is exciting enough, but once they hatch into thousands of soaring Monarch butterflies, the farm will really feel like a Monarch oasis.
The explosion of the butterfly population coincides with Halsey's finally getting around to working on the house and moving to live on the property.
"It just feels so special," Halsey says in Bangor Daily News' video.