Sunday, November 9, 2014

How do you tag a butterfly?

That was the burning question of the day.  Steve and I were invited to a Monarch Tagging event, hosted by our friends Hank and Margaret.  The event was sponsored by the Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont , which is not far from our house.  They host science camps for kids and families, and participate in a variety of worldwide research projects, such as monitoring salamanders, banding birds, and tagging Monarch butterflies. 

It turned out to be a cold rainy day, and there was not a butterfly in sight, but we had fun anyway.  And to answer the question, you tag a butterfly by placing a sticker with a unique number on it, on a certain spot on the underside of the wing.  If you ever find a dead monarch, look at its wings, and you may find one that's tagged.

Following is a YouTubevideo put together by one of the participants, Gina.  For some reason, it doesn't seem to play well on a mobile phone, but is fine on a laptop or desktop.  Enjoy!
 http://youtu.be/5OXkd4VsHfs

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Watched the video & looks like you were enjoying yourselves. Sorry the weather didn't cooperate!
Enjoying your blogs

Love, MOM