Chenango County retreat holds monarch butterfly tag and release event

PRESTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Dozens of monarch butterflies are on their way to the Transvolcanic Mountains in central Mexico following tag and release events at a retreat in Chenango County.

Solitude Farmz in the Town of Preston invited 7 residents from the Chenango Valley Home to participate in the annual release last week. The farm is a popular way station for monarchs because of its large amount of milkweed.

Co-Owner Nancy Zimmer collects butterfly eggs from the plants and raises them through their various stages to becoming butterflies inside a screened in gazebo on the property.

The residents of the assisted living community in Norwich each had the opportunity to name a butterfly which was then tagged with a numbered sticker before being released to start their journey.

Zimmer says the insects are very docile and seem to bring joy to everyone who interacts with them.

Co-Owner of Solitude Farmz Nancy Zimmer says, “They’re very friendly. They really don’t mind, as long as they’re fed and comfortable and have a space to fly around. I used to have much smaller habitats so we were excited to re-screen and make sure we had a bigger spot for them and provided a lot of plants inside for them.”

Zimmer says the butterflies will need to overcome many threats on their flight to Mexico, including predators, pesticides, bad weather and crossing large bodies of water. She says the organization Monarch Watch will record the tagged butterflies at way stations along the way.

Zimmer says she’ll find out in March how many of them made it to Mexico.

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