I worked for many years to create a homegrown nature sanctuary in my former suburban home. Everyday brought new excitement with butterflies, birds, possum mommas, baby rabbits, snakes, squirrels, etc. I was describing the beauty of the many butterflies passing through to my hairdresser. replied, “what good is a butterfly, really, why should I care?”. I remember being sad but stymied by her question at the time - thanks for articulating and answering the question so well.
Yes, sadly, an affinity for nature isn't in everyone. Well, I think it's indeed in all of us, actually, but to widely varying degrees. Just hidden so deep in some folks.
Last year, I planted a 200' X 100' pollinator and wildlife meadow in the backyard of our suburban home in SW MO. It's done well and a few neighbors have commented how pretty it is during flower season. I keep adding a few local plants to it from time to time. We also have several birdhouses, bird feeders, and a birdbath (made from a steel trash can lid!). The bird traffic is heavy all day.
I'm not concerned what people think. The backyard has become an oasis for us and the wildlife. Just trying to undo a little damage to nature.
We humans are so blinded, unable to see the reality of our own actions. We are part of the very world we are slowly destroying, and ultimately, will cause our own demise as a result. That was a beautiful piece on a very sad topic. I got misty eyed reading it. You did good……
Well said...but...the first creatures attacked by Manifest Destiny were Native Americans who lived in harmony for millenia on the prairie with butterflies, buffalo, wolves, antelope, coyotes and bears. It's not humanity at fault...it is western in-humanity. We co-opt ecosystems to our industry at our peril. A reckoning - a re-balancing - is inevitable. One day, our descendants will graze their ponies on re-wilded acres of now fine trimmed lawns amidst the ruins of gated suburbia.
No argument from me on Manifest Destiny and native people -- a terror, warfare. (All wars are war crimes.) Thanks, Barry. Although I guess it's still hotly debated, at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, climate and people accounted for extinctions of mammoths and dozens of other mega-fauna species from North America. Humans have long been tenacious killers, even before "modern" weaponry.
Excellent essay and thanks again for the shout-out. 👍
I'm curious about flea medications that use neonics and their effects on ponds and streams that dogs swim in. My dog passed away a while ago, but I once watched a fly land on her and die instantly. It changed my thinking.
Thank you for sharing that article from The Guardian, Amanda. I wonder if scientists have studied or correlated the timing of the serious bird declines we are witnessing with the introduction of these topical treatments for parasites? I can only imagine how much is released through bathing, etc., thereby pollluting waterways which plants take up and pass along to wildlife. Frightening.
Bryan, Thanks for keeping us focused on beauty, even as you make it clear that beauty alone won't save us. We need to be reminded that it's up to each us to use our individual talents to do what we can to halt and reverse the climate damage human greed has unleashed on the land.
It's always so sad to see a species edging closer to extinction, hope the skipperling can be saved. And the Swamp Metalmark, which is such a beautiful butterfly.
Oh the Duke of Burgundy is a beautiful butterfly, and you're probably right about it being the closest to the metalmark that we have (though the Heath Fritillary would be another). I've never seen a Duke of Burgundy, they're pretty rare
I didn’t know about the Skipperling and now that I do, I mourn for it. We can’t miss what we don’t notice and that’s why the work you do is so important: introducing us to so many beautiful winged species so that we can appreciate and protect them.
This sentence says it all: “the loss of what it means to be human, to protect the vulnerable, even the uncharismatic, and to live more aware and responsibly in an increasingly unnatural world.”
Thank you, Bryan for introducing me to the Poweshiek Skipperling and their prairie fen habitat. Kinship begins with understanding, grows to love and respect, and hopefully changes our destructive path. You enlighten us beautifully!
I hope we can come to see ourselves as an interconnected web of life on our beautiful planet. The little skippering is as important as we are to our breathing earth. Thanks for the wonderful essay!
Thanks, Bryan. Brilliant writing as always, and I wish so many more people would read it. I've never seen this little skipper, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't mourn its extinction and that of so many others as long as we continue to treat nature as disposable.
I'm so grateful for your writing and for your commitment. I am happy to have been introduced to new beings of great beauty - and so sad for how we have destroyed their homes. Thank you for the work you do to help reweave connections.
I worked for many years to create a homegrown nature sanctuary in my former suburban home. Everyday brought new excitement with butterflies, birds, possum mommas, baby rabbits, snakes, squirrels, etc. I was describing the beauty of the many butterflies passing through to my hairdresser. replied, “what good is a butterfly, really, why should I care?”. I remember being sad but stymied by her question at the time - thanks for articulating and answering the question so well.
Yes, sadly, an affinity for nature isn't in everyone. Well, I think it's indeed in all of us, actually, but to widely varying degrees. Just hidden so deep in some folks.
I wholeheartedly agree with this Bryan. We’re born with it. Too many are kept from it and urged away from it. And we’re all of us the worse for it.
Thank you for sharing your deep connection with nature, with the world.
Last year, I planted a 200' X 100' pollinator and wildlife meadow in the backyard of our suburban home in SW MO. It's done well and a few neighbors have commented how pretty it is during flower season. I keep adding a few local plants to it from time to time. We also have several birdhouses, bird feeders, and a birdbath (made from a steel trash can lid!). The bird traffic is heavy all day.
I'm not concerned what people think. The backyard has become an oasis for us and the wildlife. Just trying to undo a little damage to nature.
We humans are so blinded, unable to see the reality of our own actions. We are part of the very world we are slowly destroying, and ultimately, will cause our own demise as a result. That was a beautiful piece on a very sad topic. I got misty eyed reading it. You did good……
I got misty writing it. Thanks!
This is so powerful, Bryan. I need a boost like this every now and then.
Thanks, Janis. Yeah, we find our boosts wherever we can -- keeps us goin'!
Well said...but...the first creatures attacked by Manifest Destiny were Native Americans who lived in harmony for millenia on the prairie with butterflies, buffalo, wolves, antelope, coyotes and bears. It's not humanity at fault...it is western in-humanity. We co-opt ecosystems to our industry at our peril. A reckoning - a re-balancing - is inevitable. One day, our descendants will graze their ponies on re-wilded acres of now fine trimmed lawns amidst the ruins of gated suburbia.
No argument from me on Manifest Destiny and native people -- a terror, warfare. (All wars are war crimes.) Thanks, Barry. Although I guess it's still hotly debated, at the end of the Pleistocene Epoch, climate and people accounted for extinctions of mammoths and dozens of other mega-fauna species from North America. Humans have long been tenacious killers, even before "modern" weaponry.
Excellent essay and thanks again for the shout-out. 👍
I'm curious about flea medications that use neonics and their effects on ponds and streams that dogs swim in. My dog passed away a while ago, but I once watched a fly land on her and die instantly. It changed my thinking.
Supposedly neonics are selectively less toxic to mammals, but I haven't read enough of the research on that.
I didn't mean to imply it affected my dog, who lived a long life. The swiftness of the fly's death made me wonder what happens to fish or bugs in ponds and streams, if any of the neonics wash into them. The Guardian here tells me the answer is yes: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/01/vets-pesticide-flea-treatments-river-pollution-pet-owners-toxic-insecticides-hands
Oops! I’m rushing comment as usual! 😬
Thank you for sharing that article from The Guardian, Amanda. I wonder if scientists have studied or correlated the timing of the serious bird declines we are witnessing with the introduction of these topical treatments for parasites? I can only imagine how much is released through bathing, etc., thereby pollluting waterways which plants take up and pass along to wildlife. Frightening.
Your work is, as always, eloquent and essential. A deeply disturbing clarion call to live more thoughtfully and to act. Thank you, Bryan.
Thanks so much, Michael. It's a constant goal of mine as well -- to live more thoughtfully and to act. I think about it a lot.
Bryan, Thanks for keeping us focused on beauty, even as you make it clear that beauty alone won't save us. We need to be reminded that it's up to each us to use our individual talents to do what we can to halt and reverse the climate damage human greed has unleashed on the land.
I like the idea of focusing our own individual talents in whatever way we can. Thanks so much, Heather.
So true, so sad. Beautifully written.
Thanks, Bruce. Means a lot to me.
It's always so sad to see a species edging closer to extinction, hope the skipperling can be saved. And the Swamp Metalmark, which is such a beautiful butterfly.
I guess the closest you'd get to that metalmark in the U.K. would be Duke of Burgundy (Hamearis lucina).
Oh the Duke of Burgundy is a beautiful butterfly, and you're probably right about it being the closest to the metalmark that we have (though the Heath Fritillary would be another). I've never seen a Duke of Burgundy, they're pretty rare
Bryan: beautifully written, and so very sad. We hear the same story everywhere. Thank you for nudging us all.
Thanks, Sharon. Those butterflies nudge our hearts as well.
I didn’t know about the Skipperling and now that I do, I mourn for it. We can’t miss what we don’t notice and that’s why the work you do is so important: introducing us to so many beautiful winged species so that we can appreciate and protect them.
This sentence says it all: “the loss of what it means to be human, to protect the vulnerable, even the uncharismatic, and to live more aware and responsibly in an increasingly unnatural world.”
Thank you Bryan for what you do 🦋
You’ve made my day, Sabrina. 🙏🦋
This is an eloquent and elegantly crafted piece. Bryan. Thank you for creating and sharing it.
Scudder
This means a lot to me coming from you, Scudder. Thanks so much!
Thank you, Bryan for introducing me to the Poweshiek Skipperling and their prairie fen habitat. Kinship begins with understanding, grows to love and respect, and hopefully changes our destructive path. You enlighten us beautifully!
Plants and insects -- among the world's great relationships! I'm glad you're out there, as one of my fave botanists, tending to those plants, Eric!
I hope we can come to see ourselves as an interconnected web of life on our beautiful planet. The little skippering is as important as we are to our breathing earth. Thanks for the wonderful essay!
It really is a "beautiful planet," despite the abuses we perpetrate upon it. Thanks, Terry.
Thanks, Bryan. Brilliant writing as always, and I wish so many more people would read it. I've never seen this little skipper, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't mourn its extinction and that of so many others as long as we continue to treat nature as disposable.
Thanks, Dennis. Yeah, and "disposable" is probably a tactful way to put it!
I'm so grateful for your writing and for your commitment. I am happy to have been introduced to new beings of great beauty - and so sad for how we have destroyed their homes. Thank you for the work you do to help reweave connections.
So kind of you. Thanks for reading and checking in, Leah.