When I was a child, one of the best parts of summer, other than watermelon seed spitting contests and hand-cranked ice cream, and chunking chinaberries at my brothers, was chasing fireflies across the lawn. I learned how to poke holes in the Mason jar lid with an ice pick (without stabbing my hands) so the fireflies I caught could breath. Many's the time, as an adult, that I've pulled over to watch fields come alive with their yellow-green light.
So, it was disappointing to read that scientists believe the fireflies are disappearing. Excessive pesticide use, habitat destruction, destructive weather changes, light pollution - all are being blamed for their demise. Probably doesn't help that biomedical research companies pay a penny a firefly bounty, dead or alive, to anyone who will catch them. Fireflies are easy to raise, and seems to me a more efficient way to meet your supply needs. Let the wild ones live, I say!
I noticed there weren't as many in my backyard this year as in years past, but I blamed it on the hellaciously hot and dry weather of the last two months, just when the larvae were scheduled to emerge from the earth as beetles to mate and die. The fact that I had begun lighting up the backyard after I was burgled earlier this spring might have added to the parched earth problem, too.
With that in mind, I turned off all the lights around the back of the house. I watered the prairie around the back door, to loosen the soil and provide moisture. I was rewarded with an increase in fireflies - still not as many as before, though. Then the heat hit us with a vengeance and I stayed indoors during the worst of it, whiner/coward that I am, and for several days toward the end of their season, the fireflies ceased to glow. Oh, one or two flickered a couple of times, but that was it.
We had a break in the heat over the weekend, so I went out to refill the birdbath and cut grass. By the time I finished, deep twilight had settled over us, turning everything to shadows against dark purple-blue sky.
Flash. Flash. A lone firefly sparked out a call to any females sitting in the grass near the carport steps. Flash-flash, this time over the Indian mound. No response.
The solitary male continued around the yard, flash-flashing, then waiting. This went on for several minutes. I thought at first that perhaps there were many males flashing, but I could see only the one beetle, a dark spot flitting around the yard, lighting up every few feet, looking for love - okay, looking for sex. Just as I was about to go in for the tiny flashlight on my keychain, with which to signal back, a soft, fluttering shape swooped down from the evening sky and nabbed the firefly in mid-flash!
Guess I can add bats to the list of reasons fireflies are disappearing - at least, in my backyard, anyway.
17 comments:
I have not seen a firefly in YEARS.
Hey, Jim:
I live in a small town that is surrounded by farms and patches of grassy areas, so we have lots of them still. I hope we never lose them all together.
There was a large farm that used to have tons of them every summer- pure joy to see. Then the farm was sold to a developer who tore up all that magnificent loam and put up shopping malls, parking lots and high-wattage lights. We lost the hawks, rabbits, foxes, deer and, or course, the fireflies.
Progress. Development. Construction. We probably shouldn't use those words like that.
It's a hard world for small things, Crow, whatever the reasons. Very sad. Good post, thank you.
What caught it, an owl, a bat?
I've occasionally seen glow worms, which aren't quite the same. Not for a few years though.
I miss fireflies, which I also used to enjoy as a child. I am pretty sure there aren't any in England.
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110805.html
Hello, all:
We have birds called night hawks around here that catch insects on the wing just at twilight until it is too dark to see, but it was a small brown bat that snatched the last firefly.
Now that I know how to attract fireflies/lightning bugs to the yard, I hope to have at least twice as many of them next year.
Z, that's a great photo link; loved it.
Thank you all for dropping by.
The bats are going to be gone soon. They have a bad fungus disease -- I think it's called white nose. They may become extinct. It's so sad.
Anne:
I was reading about bats and white nose syndrome a few weeks ago. I've been considering putting up bat houses on the side of my barn and was searching Google for bat house plans when I ran across an article about WNS.
Sad, indeed.
Thank you for dropping by.
this was a sweet tribute ..... i treasure this kind of twilight moment.
I don't think that I have ever seen a firefly, certainly on sitting down like yours. Thank you. When I was doing my National Service we used to visit a pub five miles away in deepest Kent. On summer evenings, on the way back, the narrow country roads were lines with glow worms. An enduring memory.
Miss them. They used to be so abundant, my daughter went after them and fell asleep with a jar of glowing fireflies nestled in a bed of grass in and old pickle jar. In the morning, she would set them free.
Now, it is rare to even see one.
Thank you for visiting my blog - nice to meet you Crow. (my favourite bird). I have never seen a firefly but I agree it would be sad if they disappeared. Love your photos. Do call again.
Held off from this one for a time remmembering I was for many years a disbeliever. Read about fireflies in books (possibly books that covered same territories you have traversed) but refused to accept they existed. Possibly my mind was confused by the fact that countries were continually setting off atom bombs at the time and that fireflies might have something to do with radiation. You knew better and eventually so did I. Was it in the States where I saw them first: the country that revealed raccoons, chipmunks and groundhogs for the first time; can't be sure. Had we got them here I'm sure we would take advantage as you do. But with a glass of white in hand. Thanks for providing that bridge back to my childhood.
I haven't seen a firefly since I was... 9?
I feel all nostalgic now.
Harlequin: Twilight, and the hour or so leading to it, is my favorite time of day. Especially so in summer because of fireflies.
Plutarch: That's a great photo; found it on the Internet, but forgot to record the details.
Maria: We always had to turn ours loose before we came in for the night. I would have loved taking them inside.
Weaver of Grass: I've been visiting but not commenting for several months. I enjoy reading about your farm life. I grew up in the country, on many farms, and miss that lifestyle.
BB: I usually sit outside with a glass of iced tea to watch the fireflies, provided I remember they're there. I'm glad this post brought good memories to you.
Michelle: Aren't there fireflies in Scotland? I didn't realize they lived in Africa. Guess I assumed it was to hot and dry for them. I hope you get to see them again. They are magical-looking creatures, aren't they?
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