NORFOLK, Va. — These students from Ocean Lakes High School are trying to catch butterflies at the Norfolk Botanical Garden.
They're taking part in a North American conservation program to track the monarch's migration to Mexico.
"Each monarch gets a tag that's about the size of a pencil eraser, and it has its own specific code," said Lauren Tafoya of the Norfolk Botanical Garden.
"We will record the date, time and place, turn that into Monarch Watch, which is the study group, and they will look for comparisons of those tags recovered either en route to Mexico or at the destination in Mexico," she added.
Monarchs head south in mid-September in Virginia because they can't survive in freezing temperatures.
"They're soft. It's almost like there's nothing between my hands. The wings are really, really thin, and you can feel him wiggle a little bit," Tafoya said.
The garden staff, led by butterfly expert Tafoya, tags and releases an average of 300 monarchs every year.
And of course, I didn't pass up the chance to be part of this big science project.
"And they're not as fragile as you might think, " I said.
Now it was time to release these golden beauties. Some flew off right away, but my little gal wanted to hang out for a bit.
"Aw, bye, little girl," I said as I opened my hand to release her.
A beautiful place to be for butterflies and humans, the Norfolk Botanical Garden is positively Hampton Roads.
"Have a safe trip to Mexico," I added as she rested on a flower.
If you see a monarch butterfly tag, here's the website to check it out.
