Saving a butterfly?! I know - you might be scratching your head right now. You might even have that little "oookaayy" with the eye roll going. You sound just like the emergency park operator when I called the number that said, "For information or an emergency call....." Hey, it did say information. When the operator asked what the situation was I had to let her know that we wanted to get in contact with the Park Ranger - we had a situation where a man from our group was trying to abscond with a State Park butterfly and take it home (and in the process was injuring it); our understanding was that not only was this illegal, it was also immoral. We needed confirmation and interference. Isn't that the Ranger's job? There was a definite pause and then reassurance that the Ranger would call me. She did take my cell phone number.
I don't normally like to speak up. I hate confrontations. But I had a mission. Just last month this same perpetrator snatched a beautiful caterpillar and took it home from Temescal Park. My daughter and her friends had initially caught the caterpillar - it was incredibly beautiful and colorful- but I told them to place it back where they had found it after they had a chance to inspect the creature. They did.
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| Photo courtesy of BaconFat at Flickr |
Not much later this man from our group and his daughter caught the sweet beastie and put it in a jar to take home. I was upset, but said nothing. Didn't want to rock the boat. My eight-year-old daughter was upset, too, but I assured her he was a nature man and he was sure to return the caterpillar once it became a butterfly.
Then, at another get together a couple of weeks ago in the same park, I discovered in a group conversation with the man that indeed the caterpillar turned into a butterfly, but he and his daughter kept it in the house, never released it in the wild and it died in their home. Betrayed. I felt livid at the thought of that beautiful creature not able to live out it's full destiny trapped in their bedroom. The utter gall.
This really weighed on my mind. Today, as I was walking into Temescal Park with my daughter we discussed the situation and I vowed that if he took another caterpillar or butterfly, I would speak up. (Be careful what you wish for, right?) So I was sitting on the deck under an old oak tree gabbing with the other mothers there, when right next to me this man arrives with his butterfly net filled with one of the largest and most incredible yellow butterflies I have ever seen; then he proceeds to put this butterfly into a small, plastic jar and put a lid on it. I was incredulous. I had to speak up. I was very careful to use my "I statements" and was very glad for my training as a support counselor. I didn't think anyone else would know or care. This is a group of homeschoolers, so everyone is opinionated and you never know which way the wind will blow.
Surprisingly, it was some of the other children who spoke up with the same objections I had. I just spoke about how upset it made me and I would prefer that he not take the butterfly and if he proceeded on with his mission, I would contact the Ranger. Another woman who recently became a docent for the Santa Monica Mountains informed him that it is illegal to take anything - even a dropped acorn - from a California State Park.
And yet he defended himself and was persisting in his acquisition which he wanted for his daughter (who was at the same time holding a large dragonfly trapped in her fingers). It was too much. And he tried to deflect the whole situation by saying that we were ganging up on his daughter - to which I pointed out that we were talking to him and not even addressing her at all. It was truly unbelievable.
So began my march for the Park Ranger. Two mothers joined me. We never did find a Ranger. And after my call to the State Park Operator (who I am sure was a little surprised at our "emergency"), the other mothers and I walked back to where everyone was. The butterfly had since been released. Thank god!
I ignored the man. He approached us with an apology and then launched into justifying why he and his daughter had a right to take the butterfly. His defense being that since his daughter was diagnosed with Autism she needed to handle and hold animals. This didn't wash with any of us as an excuse to torment and torture a living creature - as one of the mothers there also had a child with Autism and we all knew someone who had a child with special needs even if ours did not. To us, this was a teachable moment for any child. Respecting living creatures. Respecting life. Following the law.
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| Photo courtesy of Bron at Flickr |
I suppose we all learned something. The following day several people posted the rules for California State Parks and for the Santa Monica Mountains; here are the rules for California State Parks: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21301, http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21300
Our group is going to have a nature guide from the park talk to the kids about the park rules and how to respect wildlife. We learned to disagree, yet to do so respectfully. My daughter learned that her mother follows through. I learned that you gotta do what you gotta do, no matter how unpleasant. And, heck, good can come out of it. A learning moment for all of us.
Still waiting for my phone call to be returned, though. Guess, I shouldn't hold my breath. In the end it's up to us isn't it, to speak up for the little guy? In the words of Margaret Mead, "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
