Susan Langerock Schuldt

I am grateful to Susan Langerock Schuldt, who contributed the photo of the monarch feeding on watermelon, found on page 28 of How to Raise Monarch Butterflies.  She has authored her own book, which you can find at the link below.   This is her story.

 ” I consider myself a butterfly enthusiast and citizen scientist, because I have loved and studied butterflies ever since a little girl growing up on a farm in South Dakota. In the “old days,” we would Suehave to pull milkweeds by walking the bean and corn fields, which was hard, hot work. For the monarchs, that was a non-toxic and non-threatening method of milkweed management vs today’s methods of using pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides, which are doing great damage to current butterfly and pollinator populations. In those days of walking farm fields, I would find monarch caterpillars on the milkweeds I was pulling up, take them home to finish their lifecycle, and release them Page 28 Sue Schuldtto fly free. It was a powerful experience that I’ve continued by placing nectar and host plants in my garden, where I find butterfly eggs and caterpillars, and bring them inside to complete their lifecycle for release. Every day, God performs miracles at all levels of life, and in 2009, I had a monarch caterpillar go into chrysalis leaving an ‘open window’ through its process of complete metamorphosis, whereby I photographed the changes of the pupa to the point where a half monarch butterfly emerged and lived as Bessie the Butterfly. The photographs were put into the book, The Secret World of a Monarch’s Metamorphosis, which can be found at http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-World-Monarchs-Metamorphosis/dp/1625105835. Since that time, I enjoy sharing Bessie’s story with kids and their families while promoting nature’s CPR for all pollinators (Conservation-Preservation-Restoration of natural habitat). Please follow Flutterby Lane on Facebook!

Susan Langerock Schuldt

Author and Photographer of:
The Secret World of a Monarch’s Metamorphosis

Contact Sue at :
nortonschuldt@sio.midco.net or 605.366.2837