If you spent any of your childhood in the eastern half of the US, then you probably spent a few summer evenings chasing fireflies. It was always a challenge to try to catch them (without squishing them into glowing guts), put them in a jar, and not release any that you had already captured. I can remember running around in the grass, barefoot, chasing these magical creatures.
It seemed to me that fireflies, or
lightning bugs, weren't as abundant as I got older. This indeed is
the case. Their populations are dropping due to a myriad of reasons.
Here in arid Colorado, fireflies are almost as elusive as Bigfoot.
Most native Coloradans have only heard of these scientific wonders,
or have only seen them when visiting other states. Our climate
proves to be too dry for the bioluminescent insects. It is a rare
summer when they make an appearance in Colorful Colorado.
The plentiful rain we've had this year
has a silver lining – or, rather, a greenish-yellow glow.
Lightning bugs have been spotting some grassy fields in Boulder
recently. I received a tip on their location from the crazy, awesome
folks with Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks. Since my Sweetpea
and I volunteer with OSMP as bat monitors (I should tell you more
about that sometime), we got the inside scoop. We traded our bat
monitoring for bug monitoring last weekend and spent the evening
trying to catch fireflies. This time, instead of trying to net them
and carefully put them in a jar to observe up close and personal, we
were trying to catch them on camera. With their dwindling
populations, this seemed like a better choice; plus, I was a little
wary of rattlesnakes in the tall grass.
Yes, we are technically adults, but we
spent a couple of hours on a Saturday night watching in wonder at the
glowing critters. Why can't we still enjoy simple pleasures that we
did as kids, just because our birthdays are adding up? We even returned for an
encore performance the next night.
If you want to escape from adulthood
for a brief time, then try hunting for fireflies. Look for tall
grasses in an undeveloped and undisturbed area. They like rotting
wood and moisture, so even small pools of water will do. Bring a
camera, or just your sense of wonder and imagination. Afterall, when
was the last time that you saw glowing animals (without mind-altering
chemicals)? If you do spot them, you can even be semi-adult-like and
report them here.
May your summer nights glow!
