The monarch butterfly has a strange defense. It tastes bad Birds that pick up a monaren discover this quickly. They it after the first bite, The monarch gets its bad taste from the milkweed plant. Milkweed is poisonous. Most animals cannot eat it. But the monarch can. It loves it. It drinks so much of the plant that it Lastes like milkweed. The monarch uses its milkweed taste as a defense. Sometimes is not a defense. The monarch can get hurt on that first bite. But most of the time, the defense works well. The monarch flies slowly. It wants animals to look. 1f they do, they might remember. Animals that have had a taste do remember. They do not want another bite