Butterflies Are Free
Always on the lookout for new experiences (and ways with potential for getting lost, hurt, looking foolish, ending up on 'Cops' or any combination of those things) I saw an ad on Facebook for 'Monarch Butterfly Taggers'. The Madison Audubon group was asking for volunteers to go to the Goose Pond Sanctuary in Arlington to capture, tag and release Monarchs for the folks at Monarchwatch.org who track their migration to Mexico each year. Goose Pond is gorgeous and the fields were blooming with goldenrod and fall asters. It was a little breezy, but warmed up quickly. Couldn't have picked a better day for capturing the Wee Beasties. After a short how-to on how to capture, tag and release we were off! That's 'Capture' (see the net??)... 'Tag' (that little sticker on the wing) And 'Release' You'd think for sure they would just fly in circles with that sticker on their wings but they don't. Experiment co...