The Launch to Mexico

One of the most enjoyable and fascinating things to do at Presqu'ile is to participate in the annual Labour Day launch of the Monarch butterfly. It has been held here for many years, but I have not done so for about four years, so I figured it was high time I did it again. 

The same man runs the program, Mr. Don Davis, an expert in Monarch migration, and he was here again with his envelopes of cooled butterflies taken from the fields of Presqu'ile Park and areas around it. This year he proudly displayed his certificate from the Guinness Book of records for a butterfly that holds the record for the longest flight of a butterfly ever, tracked from its launch at Presqu'ile to the state of Texas, an almost 5400 km journey. The Monarch's aim is to get to a small obscure town in Mexico where they over-winter, mate and die.

My objective was to get the monarch on it's way to Mexico. I waited in line with all the kiddies to get my tagged butterfly, the tag number being recorded in a log by Don. If someone happens to see a tagged Monarch anywhere, the can go onto a specific website and report the location of where they spotted it. It is fascinating to see all the different places in the US where they have been spotted, an amazing feat of endurance and willpower as these butterflies follow an unexplained path to complete this journey and begin the cycle of life anew.

I have been in awe of these beautiful butterflies most of my life. I have always thought that when I saw a Monarch, it was the spirit of my father, Richard James Sullivan, who died in 1966 at age 41. So when I heard about this program to launch the butterflies, I was anxious to participate. When you are in lineup to get your butterfly, you do not know whether or not you will get a male or female. The only way you can tell is by a small dot in the rear right hand side of the wings, only the males have it. When Don handed me the butterfly, I could see the dots on the wing and knew right away I would christen him Richard, after my dad. As the butterfly is in a state of shock from the cooler, you have to throw it up in the air in order to get it to fly away. 

So with a kiss and a wish, I sent Richard off to the sky, in the hopes he will make his incredible journey successfully. A truly spiritual and joyful experience.