Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.

Face it; something’s not right. By some estimates, the monarch butterfly population in the eastern half of the nation plunged over the last two decades by 90 percent. (Times Leader file photo)
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_Butterfly.jpg.optimal.jpgFace it; something’s not right. By some estimates, the monarch butterfly population in the eastern half of the nation plunged over the last two decades by 90 percent. (Times Leader file photo)

If you spend much time outdoors this Independence Day weekend, you might notice something is missing.

Butterflies.

Bats, too.

And honeybees.

By some estimates, the monarch butterfly population in the eastern half of the nation plunged over the last two decades by 90 percent. Certain bat species in our part of the United States, whose hibernating populations have been afflicted since 2006 by a disease called white-nose syndrome, experienced losses of up to 80 percent or more. Bees, meanwhile, have been decimated during the same span by a perplexing phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder.

You can brush off this unfolding situation as the silly concern of environmental alarmists. Or you can recognize it for what it truly represents: trouble in the habitats we share with animals and a threat to our nation’s food sources.

If, for example, farmers from Columbia County to California are compelled to pay beekeepers to deliver hives during critical plant-pollination periods, guess who pays for those costs? Consumers like you.

Think about that during your Fourth of July picnic as you sample the watermelon, raspberries and blueberry pie. From apples to zucchini, honeybees – among other pollinators – are key to crop production.

Feel a mosquito stabbing at your skin? Bats, which feast on the insects at night, died from disease by the millions across North America and have been wiped out of certain of the region’s abandoned mines.

Stunning population losses of these flying mammals and other wildlife – warning signals, if you will – have prompted responses both large and small. Pennsylvania recently received a nearly $32,500 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant to help research and respond to white-nose syndrome, according to an announcement this week from U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s office.

Beyond government-led efforts, companies and individuals are involved. Beekeeping-supply firm Mann Lake Ltd. opened a retail outlet last year in Hanover Township, encouraging aspiring beekeepers to establish backyard hives. Similarly, Creekside Gardens, a Tunkhannock business, touts its milkweed seeds and young plants as a means of supporting a butterfly revival. Monarchs lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed plants, which often are lost when fields succumb to new housing communities and other development.

Think about small but vital critters as you make decisions in your daily life, such as selecting the flowers and plants for your yard. Will you choose butterfly-friendly varieties? Will you apply weed and pest killers to the lawn? If so, what kinds? For that matter, do you abide by rules in state parks and other places regarding the transfer of firewood and boats, both of which can spread invasive species?

Do you speak up for habitat preservation in Pennsylvania?

Did you notice what’s already gone?