Monarchs have the longest migration of any insect species.
“Ever since I was a kid, I have just loved butterflies,” Eileen Griffith said. “It’s amazing to me. I love nature. I was raised on a farm out here, just two miles down the road. Nature, to me, is such an amazing thing. You can watch it, and that is the cycle of life; from an egg to a caterpillar, to a cocoon, then to a butterfly. That is an amazing miracle of God. That’s another one of God’s creations.” Griffith grew up in Plant City as Eileen McLin and graduated from Plant City High School in 1957. She worked in real estate for 25 years
Millions of monarch butterflies undertake the longest migration of any insect species. They spend the winter in the mountains of central Mexico. In the spring, they migrate as far north as southern Canada, laying eggs along the way. At the end of summer, the butterflies begin the trip back to Mexico. Many of these migrators fly completely across the Gulf.
“The top thing on my bucket list was to go to Mexico to see migration of the monarchs,” Griffith said. “But I am unable to go because they say it is so hard to get to. They say you have to ride four hours on a flatbed truck that has benches on it, then you have to ride a horse for two hours, then you have to walk the rest of the way.”…