Milkweed, pollinator flowers and protected enclosures have turned one local backyard into a place where butterflies can make their way through each stage of their life cycle.

Richmond resident Kristen Wood has spent years building the space into a Monarch Watch-certified waystation, where she and her dad search for eggs and caterpillars, raise the caterpillars in protected enclosures and release the butterflies after they emerge from their chrysalises.

“I have all the things the monarchs need,” stated Wood. “I have their milkweed and pollinator flowers. I do what I can to protect them.”

Once the caterpillars are brought into the enclosures, Wood keeps them supplied with milkweed, cutting the plants and placing them in vases for the caterpillars to eat.

The enclosures also offer protection from one of the challenges Wood has encountered while raising them. “I like to put them in the enclosures because if we leave them over here out in the wild, a lot of them die because of parasites,” she e…