While on my weekly mountain hike, I meet a woman working for an agency (whose name I will have to look up) that tags Monarchs while on their migration to Mexico. She told me that it is not as easy as one might think, to catch a Monarch. If they see you coming, many times they will fly away before you have a chance to be in catching range.
So, we started chatting and she let me give the net a try and like she said, no luck, not even close. Then my son tried and he did a little better, but again no luck. Apparently, the Monarchs won't come out when it's chilly, so we were fortunate that the weather was warming, just as we were hunting. Yes, I said hunting, and no we weren't shooting them, just catching them. It feels like a hunt though. My adrenaline was pumping when we would spot a new victim or should I say participant in the data collection program.
We spotted some more and pointed the Monarchs out to the woman with the huge butterfly net, and with her skill and stealth like movements she was able to get within striking distance, or should I say catching distance. My children and I were watching with pause and excitement when she caught the Monarch in her net. We cheered and she basked in the glory, something she was not accustomed to experiencing, since most of her hunts are done alone. You could see in her eyes the pleasure of sharing this moment with us, especially the children, who may one day be Monarch taggers.
She then proceeded to explain to us the proper technique in getting the Monarch and or other butterfly that you may catch. At this stage you slowly gather the net toward the butterfly until the area of net is small, at the same time large enough to not damage the butterfly. At this point you can put the butterfly in a glass jar for inspection, in order to tell if it is a Monarch, and if it is a Monarch, whether or not it's a male or female. If it is a Monarch, then the tagger must gently hold the wings back with two fingers and a
So, we started chatting and she let me give the net a try and like she said, no luck, not even close. Then my son tried and he did a little better, but again no luck. Apparently, the Monarchs won't come out when it's chilly, so we were fortunate that the weather was warming, just as we were hunting. Yes, I said hunting, and no we weren't shooting them, just catching them. It feels like a hunt though. My adrenaline was pumping when we would spot a new victim or should I say participant in the data collection program.
We spotted some more and pointed the Monarchs out to the woman with the huge butterfly net, and with her skill and stealth like movements she was able to get within striking distance, or should I say catching distance. My children and I were watching with pause and excitement when she caught the Monarch in her net. We cheered and she basked in the glory, something she was not accustomed to experiencing, since most of her hunts are done alone. You could see in her eyes the pleasure of sharing this moment with us, especially the children, who may one day be Monarch taggers.
She then proceeded to explain to us the proper technique in getting the Monarch and or other butterfly that you may catch. At this stage you slowly gather the net toward the butterfly until the area of net is small, at the same time large enough to not damage the butterfly. At this point you can put the butterfly in a glass jar for inspection, in order to tell if it is a Monarch, and if it is a Monarch, whether or not it's a male or female. If it is a Monarch, then the tagger must gently hold the wings back with two fingers and a
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