March 29, 2024

Catch and Release: Monarch Madness allows public to catch, tag butterflies

Image 1 of 2

PRAIRIE CITY — When you think of tagging in Iowa, the white-tailed deer might be the first animal to come to mind, but Saturday at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, the specimens were a bit more flighty.

The refuge once again hosted its special Monarch Madness event from 9 to 11 a.m. The butterfly tagging attracted approximately 60 guests, all with the goal of catching Monarch butterflies so they can be tagged with a small sticker and released before the butterflies migrate to Mexico.

Nancy Corona, visitor services manager at the Refuge, started off the morning by teaching everyone the basics about Monarch butterflies, how to catch them and quizzing the audience on their knowledge.

Guests were then divided into color-coded groups that scattered in all directions from the refuge. The orange group, led by refuge intern Kristine Micheletti, led the volunteers on a trail behind the giant federal prairie restoration and caught, tagged and released seven monarch butterflies.

Micheletti said it was the first time she had the opportunity to tag butterflies.

“It was really cool. It’s nice to know that I’m helping with the conservation and management of butterflies,” Micheletti said. “I had one practice round Thursday. They helped me out and talked me through it.

“I watched the videos on how to do it and it’s really not that hard. It’s just they’re so fragile, I didn’t want to hurt them.”

Seven guests were part of Micheletti’s group. After the first 10 minutes walking on the trail, no Monarchs were around. Then, the butterflies appeared, and the group slowly started catching them one-by-one.

One of the guests who caught a Monarch was Bethany Williams, a Colfax resident who crept 10 feet into the field to catch the orange-and-black-spotted insect.

Bethany said finding the Monarchs was a challenge, but the effort was worth it for her daughter Norah Williams who was the one interested in seeing the butterflies.

“I just didn’t want to hurt it,” Bethany said. “I’m a first-timer. One of the other ladies found them. I find it hard to find them.

“(Norah) is the one who brought me out. She’s the one who loves Monarchs and butterflies. I heard about this event and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, she would love this.’”

Norah was one of the members of the orange group, running up to every caterpillar, cricket and butterfly that was captured and snapping a photo.

“I came because I really love Monarchs. They’re really pretty and they fly,” Norah said. “I’ve seen a few of them. Two of them were too far out into the field to get.”

Monarch butterflies are the only type of butterflies that migrate the same way birds do, traveling north and south as the seasons change. Once winter breaks, Monarch butterflies mate and start making their way to Mexico. When they travel back north, they will lay their eggs in the Texas area and die. The hatched offspring will continue the migration north.

“It’s millions and millions of butterflies making this amazing journey,” Corona said. “Unfortunately, their numbers are crashing, and there’s a lot of reasons for it. So scientists are tagging them, just like other animals you study.”

After Saturday’s event, Kieran Bowe, park ranger at Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, said everyone was able to tag 126 Monarch butterflies.

“It was a solid turnout,” Bowe said. “All the volunteers seemed to have a great time. We were trying to get out the awareness for the monarch population as well as preserving and providing a habitat for them.”

Contact Orrin Shawl at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or at oshawl@newtondailynews.com