Paint Valley, near Bainbridge — Help track the heroic and mysterious migration of everybody’s favorite butterflies in a week and a half.
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park welcomes the public to the Seip Earthworks near Bainbridge Sunday, September 10th to catch Monarch butterflies and watch them be tagged with small stickers.
Myra Vicks at the visitors center says they will supply the butterfly nets – but don’t bring any bug spray!
She says the park rotates this annual event among their various earthworks, since all have restored prairies. But Seip Mound looked good this year, and they wanted to highlight it.
You are welcome to come and go during the four-hour time frame.
From the park’s Facebook post:
Tag – you’re it!
As part of a nationwide effort, help tag monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) as they partake on their epic migration extending over a thousand miles to their winter home. “Tagging” simply means placing a specially designed sticker on migrating monarchs so that scientists can track their route.
Park staff will be at Seip Earthworks on Sunday, September 10, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm to welcome volunteers and demonstrate the proper capturing and handling of these insects.
Because of their ability to travel far distances, running shoes is a must, as there will be a lot of walking/running involved. In addition, water and sunscreen are highly recommended as butterfly tagging will take place in the warm season grasslands where shady spots are limited.
Seip Earthworks is located at 7078 US Route 50, Bainbridge, Ohio.
Learn more in Hopewell Culture’s Facebook event page:
All equipment necessary to capture butterflies will be provided along with free handouts about butterflies and other wildlife.
Make sure to bring water, sunscreen, and running shoes – these butterflies are built to travel, so will take you on a great chase at times. Expect to walk and/or run a lot! All participants will be required to complete a volunteer form.
The autumn flowers at Seip Earthworks will be in peak bloom and will provide a beautiful backdrop for this fun family-friendly activity!
Myra Vicks at the visitors center said the University of Kansas started this program, which is now now spun off as “Monarch Watch:”
Monarch Watch is a nonprofit education, conservation, and research program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its spectacular fall migration.
Monarch Watch was founded in 1992 by Dr. Orley “Chip” Taylor and the monarch tagging program was launched in the fall of that year.
Mission Statement: Monarch Watch strives to provide the public with information about the biology of monarch butterflies, their spectacular migration, and how to use monarchs to further science education in primary and secondary schools.
We engage in research on monarch migration biology and monarch population dynamics to better understand how to conserve the monarch migration. We also promote protection of monarch habitats throughout North America.
