RISON - While Andrew Roshell was outside picking up trash in front of his house along Hwy. 133 last week, he encountered someone wearing a white shirt with a red arrow jogging southbound along the road towards Rison.
Roshell said it is not that common to see someone jogging along the highway, and he certainly did not recognize him. So, doing what all good southerns do, Roshell struck up a conversation with him and offered him some water and Gatorade.
It was during that chance encounter that Roshell learned he was visiting with ultramarathoner Anthony Battah of Montreal, Canada.
Battah's jog through Cleve-land County was part of a 4,500 kilometer (nearly 2,800 mile) journey he was making from Montreal to Mexico to bring attention the Monarch butterfly and biodiversity. He departed Montreal on July 29 and plans to arrive at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico on Nov. 1.
His path follows the migratory route of the Monarch butterfly, which can travel up 2,800 miles or more from the northeast U.S./ southeast Canada to the mountain forests in central Mexico, according to the worldwildlife. org website.
Central Mexico provides the right climate conditions for the Monarch butterflies to hibernate from the beginning of November to mid-March, the website stated. Monarch butterflies can be recognized by their brilliant orange wings with black vein(see "We need to add approximately 1.5 billion milkweed plants and an abundance of nectar-producing flowers along the migratory pathway of the monarch butterfly," Battah wrote on his website.
Along his route from Canada to Mexico, Battah said he is planting milkweed and nectarrich flowers to create "aid stations" for future generations of monarchs. He wrote that he hopes to initiate a North American movement to create habitats for monarch butterflies, noting many schools and cities have committed to support the cause.
According to worldwildl...
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