Child This episode is part of the series Wild Critters USA, a collaboration between Orbit, PBS Nature, and the National Wildlife Federation.

Robert All right, Hank, according to our road trip map, we should stop somewhere around here to stretch our legs.

Robert Yeah, I know.

Robert It's a lot of flat landed sky.

Robert Welcome to the great state of Kansas.

Robert Whoa, Hank.

Robert Hold still.

Robert There's a butterfly right there on your nose.

Robert Wow.

Robert It's so beautiful.

Robert And it kind of looks like a jack-o'-lantern.

Robert It's all orange and black.

Robert It kind of looks like you two are becoming friends.

Robert there it goes.

Robert Sometimes I wonder where butterflies are going when I see them.

Robert That sounds like something cool we can learn about today.

Robert Hey orbiters, today we're learning about one of the longest journeys any insect on Earth makes, the incredible monarch butterfly and its annual migration.

Robert You orbiters are as eager as I am to learn.

Child Why are butterflies called butterflies?

Child How do monarchs find their way home?

Robert Out, we have an awesome expert.

Robert Her name is Dr.

Robert Dorothy, and she's a monarch butterfly expert with the US National Park Service.

Robert We'll see Dr.

Robert Dorothy in a little bit, but first, let's go meet a new friend.

Robert Welcome to Orbit.

Robert We have a brand new friend here with us today.

Robert Margaret, welcome to Orbit.

Child Hello.

Child Hello, my name is Margaret.

Child I'm eight years old.

Child I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Child I'm going into third grade.

Child The people in my family are two moms and my little sister.

Child Something cool about my family is that we're from five different states, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Durham, then Atlanta, Georgia.

Child Things I enjoy, roller skating, cooking.

Child I like looking at houses.

Child I like going to fun places.

Child I like Child That's amazing.

Robert There's so much going on there, Miss Margaret.

Robert And what is something that you have been excited to learn about lately?

Child I'm excited to learn about lately dance and time.

Robert Oh, dance and time.

Robert What are you interested about with dance?

Child Just the part of dancing.

Robert You're just like moving around, like wiggling?

Robert Yeah.

Robert What types of dancing do you do?

Robert Well, there's a few.

Child I want to do and some I do.

Child I do musical theater and I do ballet.

Child I want to do tap, jazz and something else.

Robert Wow, musical theater.

Robert Do you like performing?

Child Yes.

Robert Yeah.

Robert You know, this could be a point where our listening families can pause and talk together because me, I prefer not to be in front of people.

Robert I'm a little bit more shy.

Robert But you are somebody that just loves being in front of people and performing and dancing.

Robert Yes.

Robert Yeah, I think that's so cool.

Robert Okay, Miss Margaret, would you like to play a game?

Child Super mega, yes.

Robert All right, perfect.

Robert Today's game is called the magic kid-sized chrysalis.

Robert Do you know what a chrysalis is, Miss Margaret?

Child Yes, it's basically, it looks like an oval kind of, and it's usually hanging from something, and usually caterpillars in there developing their wings.

Robert Yeah, that's right.

Robert So one of the amazing things about butterflies, as you mentioned, is that they start as caterpillars and then they go into this chrysalis and they emerge as a butterfly.

Robert All right.

Robert And families, you can do this along with us.

Robert Miss Margaret is going to design her own chrysalis experience.

Robert First of all, what kind of caterpillar would you be?

Child That would be a boo-boo caterpillar.

Robert A boo-boo caterpillar?

Robert What is that?

Child A boo-boo caterpillar is a caterpillar that has a pink nose that's a heart.

Child Its rear end is pink and the rest of its body is red to purple.

Robert The nose is a heart.

Robert That's a fun little touch that you've added.

Robert Okay, so you're going to be in the chrysalis for around 2 weeks.

Robert What are you going to bring with you to keep you entertained?

Child I'm bringing my Child A pen and my notebook.

Robert And your notebook.

Robert Are you going to write something while you're in there in the notebook?

Child I'm just going to draw random things that come into my brain, like cats, dogs, unicorns, caterpillars, butterflies, pencils, toys, microphones.

Robert Miss Margaret, you are quite the little artist, aren't you?

Robert All right, let's get into the exciting part now.

Robert You get to emerge as a butterfly.

Robert Use your imagination and describe yourself as a butterfly.

Child My wings are blue.

Child My body is black.

Child When I get scared, my rings turn rainbow.

Child I am poisonous and I can turn invisible and I can camouflage.

Robert Okay.

Robert This is an amazing species of butterfly.

Robert So you're blue, but you can also be rainbow.

Child When I get scared.

Robert And why do you turn rainbow when you're scared?

Child Because I get just too scared and then I start flashing rainbow colors.

Robert Do both wings have the same colors or do they turn different colors in the rainbow?

Child They're the same color but they're flashing.

Robert And okay, you said you're poisonous.

Robert Why are you poisonous?

Child So if I get.

Child stuck in a net, then the spider says, let me try you.

Child And then I grow back my wing.

Child And then he's like, I don't like this anymore.

Robert Oh, so it's a little bit like an axolotl, so you can regenerate parts of your body.

Robert And what are you most excited about being a butterfly?

Child I can fly around and fly away and go to my grandma's house.

Robert So you're going to make your own migration.

Robert Miss Margaret, now you get to name your special butterfly species.

Robert What are you going to call it?

Child The amazing butterfly.

Robert The amazing butterfly.

Robert Honestly, that is the most amazing butterfly that I've ever heard of.

Robert And families, this could be a great spot to pause the episode and y'all can talk about your own butterfly.

Robert Maybe it's just as amazing as Miss Margaret's.

Robert Miss Margaret, would you like to help introduce our guest today?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Yes.

Robert Okay.

Robert Today's guest is Dr.

Robert Dorothy from the US National Park Service.

Child Hi, Dr.

Child Dorothy.

Child Welcome to Orbit.

Child What do you do for work?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Hi, my name is Dr.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Dorothy Borrowi.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy I'm an ecologist.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy the National Park Service.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy What that means is that I'm basically like a nature detective.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy My job is to figure out how the living things in nature, so the plants, animals, insects, fungi, and even tiny microbes live and interact with each other in their environment.

Robert Hey, Margaret, are you ready to learn about monarch butterflies?

Robert Yes.

Robert All right, perfect.

Robert Here we go.

Robert Hey parents, would you take a moment to leave a review for Orbit on Spotify or Apple Podcast or wherever you listen?

Robert You have the whole rest of the episode to do it.

Robert Thank you.

Robert Let's get started with a question from our friend Luna.

Child Hi, my name is Luna.

Child I'm six years old and I live in New York.

Child And my question is, why are butterflies called butterflies?

Robert Do you know the answer to that, Orbiters?

Robert I sure don't.

Robert Hey, Dr.

Robert Dorothy, can you help us out?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy That's actually a great question, Luna.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Believe it or not, no one really knows for sure.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy One popular idea is that people once believed that butterflies liked to steal butter or milk, which is why in some other languages, the name for butterfly Dr.

Dorothy Borowy to milk thief or butter liquor.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy That isn't actually true.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy The vast majority of butterflies prefer to sip nectar from flowers, although some prefer to drink tree sap, the juice from ripe fruit, and even minerals in muddy puddles.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy A few butterflies will even land on animal poop because they're looking for important nutrients like salt that flowers don't provide.

Robert Okay, now that we know butterflies aren't made of butter and they don't even eat butter, let's learn about modern.

Child Hi, Orbiters.

Child My name is Ygritte Mostajo.

Child I'm 10 years old.

Child I live in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

Child And my question is, why are Monarch butterflies so special?

Child Thank you.

Child Bye.

Child Hi, my name is Jay.

Child And I am five years old.

Child And my question is, why the monarch butterflies are orange and black?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Monarch butterflies are really easy to recognize because they have bright orange wings with black lines that kind of look like stained glass.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy These bright colors aren't just beautiful.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They're a kind of warning called aposematic coloring.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy That's a big science word which means Dr.

Dorothy Borowy As caterpillars, monarchs eat milkweed leaves, which contain natural chemicals that make other animals sick if they eat them.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Their bright orange and black wings are nature's way of saying, I'm not a tasty snack.

Robert Warning coloring.

Robert That's cool.

Robert Can you think of any other animals with special colors that warn predators not to mess with them?

Robert You can pause here to talk about it with your family.

Robert Some that you might have mentioned are colorful poison dart frogs, or red ladybugs, or the yellow and black coloring on wasps and bees, even the white stripes on skunks.

Robert They don't need words to tell predators to stay away.

Robert They do it with their colors.

Robert Dr.

Robert Dorothy also mentioned milkweed in her answer.

Robert That reminds me of this question from our friend, Georgia Rose.

Child Hello, my name is Georgia Rose and I'm five years old and I live in California.

Child And my question is, how do monarch butterflies find milkweed?

Robert This sounded like a perfect question to bring to our friend, David Mizajewski.

Robert Mr.

Robert David is a science advisor for Ranger Rick Magazine from the National Wildlife Federation.

Robert Hey, Mr.

Robert David, how do monarch moms find milkweed?

Robert That's a great question, Georgia Rose, because I think the connection between monarchs and milkweed is so cool.

Robert Female monarchs find milkweed by using their eyes to look for it as they fly around and by using their antennae to smell for it.

Robert But they don't just lay eggs on the first milkweed they find.

Robert First, the butterfly lands on the milkweed, scratches a leaf with her feet, and then walks around to see what it tastes like.

Robert That's right, butterflies can taste with their feet.

Robert She's checking to see if the plant is healthy and if it'll offer good nutrition to her babies.

Robert Only then will she Robert her eggs on it.

Robert Female monarchs can lay hundreds of eggs on milkweed.

Robert Hey parents, if you'd like to continue learning about monarch butterflies and other crawly critters that you can find close to your home, Ranger Rick Magazine has great resources for families.

Robert I'll leave a link in the show notes.

Robert Hey, Dr.

Robert Dorothy, I've heard some of my friends talking about how monarch butterflies transform, but I don't really understand how it works.

Robert Can you teach us?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Monarch butterflies have one of the most amazing life cycles in nature.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They go through a process called complete metamorphosis, which means they have four very different life stages.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They go from egg to caterpillar, chrysalis, and then finally an adult butterfly.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy It all begins when a female monarch lays her eggs on a milkweed plant.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy A few days later, a tiny caterpillar hatches and spends almost all of its time Dr.

Dorothy Borowy eating and growing.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy As it grows, it sheds its skin five times before it's ready for the next stage.

Robert I know, Hank.

Robert Five times.

Robert That's more times that I change clothes every week.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Then the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, which is a hard protective covering made from the caterpillar's own skin.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Inside the chrysalis, something truly incredible happens.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy The caterpillar breaks down much of its body into a gooey, nutrient Dr.

Dorothy Borowy and it uses those building blocks to create an entirely new body with wings, 6 long legs, antenna, eyes, and a long curly straw called a proboscis, which it uses for drinking nectar.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy About 2 weeks later, a beautiful adult monarch butterfly emerges, unfolds its wings, and is ready to take flight.

Robert Isn't that crazy, orbiters?

Robert A caterpillar doesn't just grow wings.

Robert It turns itself into goo and then completely builds its body back into something totally new and different.

Robert That just blows my mind.

Robert Dr.

Robert Dorothy told me something else that's pretty cool.

Robert Did you know that a butterfly creates a chrysalis while a moth creates a cocoon?

Robert Here's the difference.

Robert A butterfly makes a hard little shell around itself, which is called the chrysalis.

Robert It basically turns its own skin into a hard case.

Robert But a moth spins itself a fuzzy silk blanket, which is called a cocoon.

Robert It's kind of like a sleeping bag for moths.

Robert They both transform when they're inside the chrysalis or the cocoon.

Robert Kind of cool, right?

Robert Hey, Dr.

Robert Dorothy, I'm curious about these famous migrations that the monarch butterfly makes.

Robert But can you remind me what does migrate mean?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Migrate is a word used to describe a long journey that certain animals make every year when the seasons change.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They travel to places where they can find Dr.

Dorothy Borowy enough food and safe places to live until the seasons change back again.

Robert Oh, that's right.

Robert And do all monarch butterflies migrate together?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Actually, there are different populations of monarch butterflies and they don't all migrate to the same place.

Robert Dr.

Robert Dorothy told me that there are three big populations.

Robert There are monarchs that live west of the Rocky Mountains, close to the Pacific Ocean.

Robert In the wintertime, they migrate to California.

Robert And then the state of Florida has its own monarch butterflies, which don't migrate very far at all.

Robert They just kind of enjoy being in Florida, I guess.

Robert And finally, there's the world famous super duper mega migrating monarchs.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy The monarchs that live east of the Rocky Mountains are the most famous because they make one of the longest migrations of any insect on Earth.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Every fall, they fly from the United States and southern Canada to the cool Oyamel fir forests that are high in the mountains of central Mexico.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Some travel more than 3,000 miles.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy That is an incredible journey for a butterfly that weighs less than a paper clip.

Robert OK, Bastian Cristobal and I want to learn more.

Child I am Bastian.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy I live in.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy I am 80 years old and my question is why do butterflies fly so long for migration?

Child Hi Orbit, my name is Cristobal, I am six years old, I live in Panama City and my question is what temperature do monarch butterflies like and if the migration of the monarch butterflies is of the Child Temperature or another thing?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Great question.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Monarch butterflies migrate because winter makes it hard for them to survive.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy As the weather gets colder, there are fewer flowers to provide nectar and the milkweed dies back.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Also, freezing temperatures can kill them.

Robert I know Hank, you and I don't always enjoy super cold weather either.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy But they're not just looking for the warmest place they can find.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy In Dr.

Dorothy Borowy fact, if they stayed somewhere that's too warm, they would use up all their energy before spring.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Instead, they fly to the cool Oyamel fir forests in the mountains of central Mexico, where the temperatures usually stay around 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy These cool temperatures trigger a special resting state called diapause.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy It's almost like pressing a pause button on their bodies.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They become less active, which allows them to Dr.

Dorothy Borowy conserve energy through the winter until next spring.

Robert What happens when the temperature starts to rise again in the springtime, Dr.

Robert Dorothy.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy When spring arrives and the temperatures warm above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, monarchs become active again.

Robert We'll continue learning about the migrations in a moment.

Robert But first, let's pause for mystery sound.

Robert We'll play the mystery sound two times.

Robert You can move around and wiggle while you listen and think about what the sound is.

Robert Think you got it?

Robert Stick around to the end for the answer.

Robert Okay, let's get back to more questions.

Child Hi, my name's Kenji, I'm six years old, and I'm from Pasadena, California.

Child My question is, can you explain how multiple generations of mind us make the journey?

Robert Kenji said a really cool word in there, generations.

Robert Think of your own family.

Robert You're one generation, and if you have a brother or a sister, they're right there with you in that same generation.

Robert Your mom and dad, that's the generation before you.

Robert And your grandma or grandpa, that's the generation before them.

Robert Each of those layers is a different generation.

Robert So here's what Kenji really wants to know.

Robert How do all those different generations play a part in the migration?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Yes, this is one of the most amazing things about monarch butterflies.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy The butterflies Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Butterflies that spend the winter in Mexico wake up from their special resting state in spring and begin flying north.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Along the way, they lay eggs and then unfortunately they die.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Those eggs hatch into the next generation of butterflies, which continue the journey north.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy A few weeks later, those butterflies lay eggs too and the cycle repeats.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy It takes between 3:00 to 5:00 generations of monarch butterflies to complete the journey from Mexico across to the eastern United States and into southern Canada.

Robert Three to five generations?

Robert That means that if one butterfly packs its bags and leaves Mexico, its grandchildren or its great-grandchildren or its great-great-grandchildren are the ones who will finally arrive in Canada.

Robert Isn't that crazy, orbiters?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy But that's not even the most amazing part.

Robert Wait, it gets even cooler.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Once the monarchs reach the eastern United States and Canada, the final generation of the year is born, which is called the super generation.

Robert The super generation sounds very important.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Butterflies can live 8 to 9 months.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They're the ones that make the incredible journey 3,000 miles all the way back to Mexico, even though they've never been there before.

Robert Oh, that is cool.

Robert So even though it takes 3 to 5 generations to make the trip from Mexico all the way up to Canada, when it's time to turn around and go back to Mexico, the super generation flies the whole way.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Hello, my name is Caleb.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy I run a new Dr.

Dorothy Borowy And my question is, how do monarchs find their home?

Robert I also want to know this.

Robert Do they carry a little butterfly map in their pocket?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Caleb, this is a question we've been asking for a long time.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Monarchs don't have maps and scientists don't fully understand how they do this, but we have learned that they use several natural clues to navigate.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy So during the day, monarchs use the sun like a compass.

Robert A compass is a special device that Robert magnetic field to tell you what direction is north.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy But since the sun moves across the sky, they also need to know what time it is in order to navigate properly.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy That's where their antenna come in.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy I know, Hank.

Robert I always thought that the antenna were just for show, kind of like a cool hat.

Robert Sometimes I wish I had antenna, just like a butterfly.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Their antenna contain tiny cells that keep track of the daily cycle of life.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy light and dark, almost like an internal watch.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy The butterfly's brain combines that time information from the antenna with the sun's position to help it keep flying in the right direction, which is amazing.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy But I think the most amazing part is that the super generation flying from the northeastern US and Canada into Mexico has never been there before.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Yet millions of butterflies somehow find the very Dr.

Dorothy Borowy We still don't know exactly how they do it, which makes monarch butterflies one of nature's greatest mysteries.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Wow.

Robert They fly for 3,000 miles, around 5,000 kilometers without getting lost?

Robert I definitely couldn't do that.

Robert These little butterflies sure are amazing.

Robert Hey, let's go check in with our friend Margaret.

Robert Hey, Miss Margaret, are you ready to take a short break and stretch and move around a little bit?

Child 100% yes.

Robert Yeah, me too.

Robert Okay, what movement should orbiters do today?

Child They should do the mountain.

Child The mountain is where you touch the ground and you stretch out as a upside down V or a triangle.

Child And then you put one leg up.

Robert Oh, interesting.

Robert It's kind of like a little yoga move.

Child Yes.

Robert That's so cool.

Robert So a mountain.

Robert A mountain with one leg in the air.

Robert You have to have really good balance, but this will be a really good one to practice.

Robert And while we're being mountains, let's recap what we've learned.

Robert Monarchs use bright orange and black colors called aposematic coloring to warn predators that they don't taste very good.

Robert Monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on a special plant called milkweed, which mama monarchs identify by tasting with their feet.

Robert We learn that monarchs go through complete metamorphosis, changing from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalis, and finally into a butterfly.

Robert And finally, monarchs make one of the most incredible migrations in the whole animal kingdom.

Robert They fly from Mexico up to Canada in three to five generations.

Robert And then a super generation flies all the way back to spend their winter time in Mexico.

Robert Hey, we got a really interesting question from Luis Mario that I'm going to make sure we get to.

Child Hello, I am Luis Mario.

Child I am 5.

Child And my question is how national parks protect wild flies?

Robert Hey Dr.

Robert Dorothy, you told us you work for the National Park Service.

Robert I've heard of things like national parks and public lands.

Robert Can you tell us about those?

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Public lands are special places that belong to all of us.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They're protected so people can explore nature, learn about history, and enjoy the great outdoors.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy They're also important for protecting plants and wildlife and making sure they have safe places to live.

Robert That is so cool.

Robert National parks are some of my favorite places on earth.

Robert So how Robert So they protect animals like monarch butterflies.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy National parks and other public lands protect monarch butterflies by protecting and restoring the habitats they need to survive.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Ecologists and park staff work to conserve native wildflower meadows, grasslands, forests, wetlands, and other natural areas while also restoring habitats that have been damaged over time.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy That often means caring for these landscapes over the long term so monarchs have places to find nectar, lay their eggs on milkweed, and rest during their incredible migration.

Robert It's like national parks.

Robert They're kind of like hotels for monarch butterflies to stop and rest while they're making their big migration.

Robert I'm sure glad we have people like you, Dr.

Robert Dorothy, that make sure that these hotels are taken care of.

Child Hi, I'm Samantha from Costa Rica.

Child And my question is how families can protect monarch butterflies and other butterflies.

Child Thank you.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Absolutely, Samantha.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy One of the best ways families can help is by planting a native garden that includes milkweed and a variety of native flowers that bloom from spring through fall.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy That gives monarch caterpillars the only plant they can eat while also providing nectar for the adult butterflies throughout their lives.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy You can also help by avoiding using pesticides on your lawn and garden and making sure to leave some plant stems and leaves Dr.

Dorothy Borowy in your yard during the fall and winter.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Remember, they're called leaves for a reason, so leave them.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy These provide cozy winter homes for many helpful insects and pollinators.

Robert And how can families continue to learn about butterflies, Dr.

Robert Dorothy, and maybe someday become a scientist like you.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy There are so many ways to keep exploring monarch butterflies.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Visit your local library to check out books about butterflies, insects, and native plants.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy If you're interested in native gardening, your local Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Native Plant Society and Native Plant Nursery are great at helping you choose the best plants for your area and garden's goals.

Robert That sounds so fun.

Robert I just love plants.

Robert Don't you, Orbiters?

Robert Hey, Dr.

Robert Dorothy, thanks for answering our questions today.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Thank you so much for joining me on our monarch butterfly adventure.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy I hope the next time you see a monarch butterfly, you'll stop for a moment and think about the incredible journey it's been on and the important role it plays in helping nature.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Remember, you don't have to be a grown-up to make a difference.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy Nature is full of amazing discoveries just waiting to be found.

Dr.

Dorothy Borowy So keep asking questions, keep exploring, and never stop wondering.

Robert Hey parents, we'll leave information about the National Park Service Robert in the show notes.

Robert And a special thanks to our friend, Miss Sarah, for helping organize this episode.

Robert Hey, before we wrap up, I bet a few of you are curious about the mystery sound.

Robert Do you remember it?

Robert If you said it's a dolphin, you were right.

Robert Way to go.

Robert All right, let's go say hi to our friend Margaret one more time.

Robert Hey, Miss Margaret, what did you think about learning with Dr.

Robert Dorothy.

Child So interesting.

Robert I know, I learned so much.

Robert Before we say goodbye, what is something that families can talk about or do together?

Child I think they should plant more milkweed.

Child So you could go to places where they have milkweed that's already grown and plant it in your backyards or front yards.

Robert That's a great idea, yeah.

Robert And we'll have some information in the show notes so that families can learn about creating their own milkweed garden or maybe they choose a different type of native flower, native plant so that they can help the pollinators.

Robert Hey, Miss Margaret, we are about to finish this episode.

Robert Do you have a joke or a riddle for orators today?

Child Yes, I do.

Child Say this fast three times.

Child Friendly Frank flipped five fine flapjacks.

Robert Friendly Frank flipped five fine flapjacks.

Child Friendly Frank flipped five fine flapjacks.

Robert I'm going to be walking around today trying to say the five Frank flapjacks.

Child No, friendly Frank flipped five fine flapjacks.

Child Friendly Frank flipped five fine Child Friendly Fink flipped five fine flapjacks.

Child Friendly Fink flipped five fine flapjacks.

Robert Woo!

Everybody give a round of applause to Margaret.

Robert I don't know how you did that.

Robert It'll take me weeks to be able to say that fast.

Robert And Margaret, any special messages for our audiences?

Child Have a lot of fun, learn a lot about butterflies, and try to go to places where they have butterflies to see them.

Robert I love that.

Robert Perfect.

Robert I'm going to I'm going to do that.

Robert There's a local park that I love that I always see butterflies in that I'm going to go check out today.

Robert Margaret, you're so much fun.

Robert Thank you for joining us on Orbit.

Robert We will see everybody next week.

Robert Bye bye.

Robert Bye.

Robert This episode is part of the Wild Critter series, a collaboration with our friends at PBS Nature and the National Wildlife Federation.

Robert Orbit is produced by Cumbre Kids.

Robert This episode was written by me, Robert Carpenter.

Robert The producer is Hedo and Rieta.

Robert Artwork for the episode was by Moises Monsalve and Jorge Wake.

Robert Parents, if you enjoyed this episode, can you think of a friend family who you would like to share it with?

Robert Recommendations from parents like you are the number one way that families learn about Orbit.

Robert We'll see you in the next episode.

Robert Ciao.

Child The important thing is not to stop questioning Albert Einstein.