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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 2017)
6 Wednesday, August 9, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Tales from a Sisters Naturalist by Jim Anderson Of butterflies The most wonderful thing about writing this column is the phone calls and emails. Last week, the phone was ringing off the hook (and vibrating in my pocket) with all you wonderful people calling to tell me about the outbreak of “monarch butter- flies” that have taken over the foothills of the Cascades. But I’m sorry to say, those are California tortoiseshell butterflies, not monarchs. California tortoiseshells winter over as adults, and somehow this is an advan- tage to their survival and helps them to build up their numbers. Then, when things are right (and I have no idea what “things” that may be) their numbers reach a point where the sheer numbers brings about an outbreak. They have done it two times (as far as I know) since I rolled into Bend on my Harley back in 1951. Thirty years ago, an outbreak simi- lar to this one took place in Northern California and was seen all the way to Bend. Unless research is carried out annually within the tortoise- shell populations, it’s proba- bly difficult to really put your finger on this or that cause. But no matter; it’s astonish- ing when it takes place. I believe this remarkable phenomena is tied to nature’s way of ensuring survival of a species. Perhaps, when weather and food plants are in balance, close to 100 per- cent of a butterfly’s larvae get what they need to develop the necessary chemicals to meta- morphose into adults suc- cessfully. They mate and lay prodigious numbers of eggs; which in turn hatch — and because of the sheer numbers defoliate their food plants — which I have a hunch is even good for the plants in some PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON Juvenile Western screech owl. way. While this is going on, butterfly parasites also go into supercharge mode and somehow have the ability to lay eggs on the kajillions of caterpillars. During the similar event some 30 years ago, my wife, Sue, and I were living in Bend, having just returned from southeast Arizona where I was man- ager of the Ramsey Canyon Preserve. During that outbreak of the mid-’080s, we were told tortoiseshell butterfly cater- pillars in the Tumalo Creek watershed were defoliating all the ceanothus west of town. We were living in Bend at the time, and of course, Sue and I packed up our son, Reuben (Miriam and Caleb hadn’t arrived yet) and went out to Tumalo Falls to take a look. It was astonishing to see that many butterflies fill- ing the air, and to actually hear their wings as they flit- tered about, as well as lar- vae munching on ceanothus leaves. When we returned a short time later we found uncount- able numbers of chrysalids hanging on the bare branches of the ceanothus. We then discovered by accident that if we got close to them and stomped our feet they would all begin to shake and, I thought, clang like tiny bells. What a show! WE’RE NOT JUST TIRES! We do... Alignments, Brakes, Shocks, Struts, CV Joints, U Joints, Axle Shafts, Drivelines, & Tire Siping ...not only cars, but trailers, too! DAVIS TIRE 541-549-1026 Serving Sisters Since 1962 188 W. Sisters Park Dr. In Sisters Industrial Park across from SnoCap Mini Storage F LL TODAY E IN OR CA OR YOUR E C N A R U S N FREE I ! N O S I R A P COM COM MEANINGFUL MEDICINE Natural Treatments & Counseling to Support Wellness Kim Hapke, Naturopath 541-588-6245 257 S. Pine St., #101 | farmersagent.com/jrybka AUTO • HOME • LIFE • BUSINESS 971-409-0908 Sisters Art Works Building Breakfast (& Lunch) any time Our menu is made from scratch, every ve ery day Have you tried our 100% all-natural a atural he e bun? Angus beef burgers on a brioche Delicious rib-eye steak, tuna melt, fantastic sandwiches, soups and terrifi c salads are just a few of our amazing lunches. Vegan & Gluten-free Options Tues.-Sun. 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. m. . d Ave. A 541-549-6562 • 473 E. Hood www.lamagiecafe.com Breakfast • Lunch ch • Bakery y We removed 20 chrysa- lids from the underside of the bare branches by using my pocketknife to cut the thin, silk pedicle attaching the chrysalis to the branch and took them home with us to photograph emerging butterflies. However, if my memory serves me correctly, of the 20 chrysalids, eight or nine developed as butterflies. Bright green parasitic wasps emerged from all the others. During that outbreak I also recall the California highway department install- ing special truck washing equipment near Redding that was used to wash smashed butterflies out of the radiators to keep the trucks from over- heating. And the UPS driv- ers were having a heck of a time, driving five miles then having to stop and clean the windshields of their trucks. The OBOL website (Oregon Birders On Line) has been buzzing for weeks with birders sharing the tor- toiseshell outbreak, and this one from Barbara and Dan Gleason of Eugene was par- ticularly thoughtful as well as interesting: “Seeing all the posts, I thought I’d add that these massive numbers of butter- flies were also in the Clear Lake and McKenzie River areas too, this past Thursday. “My granddaughter and PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON California tortoiseshell butterfly. I were up there for her first rowboat ride and everywhere we encountered massive numbers of tortoiseshells, to the point it made driving quite hazardous since one couldn’t help but want to avoid killing them, but one could not drive as slowly as one need to accomplish this. “We were glad to get off the highway and head to the lake where one could drive to allow them to pass by the car. They were largely not over the lake but were everywhere along the roadsides, espe- cially near water...culverts, outhouses, included! “Along the edge of the lake when one moved too quickly, they would all take flight and one could hear their wingbeats, too.”
