Chasing butterflies

The butterfly or the moth looked something like this - Image from dpugphoto

Animals seem to be quiet across the world, I couldn't find a story to post. But I have my own story for today. Yesterday I was returning home from work and I stopped at a signal. Suddenly I noticed a pastel green butterfly, or a moth am not sure, flitting across and following it close was a Common Myna. The butterfly did a small dance in the air and then I realized it was trying to escape from the clutches of the myna. But it was too slow and the myna caught it in its beak. I was watching all along with intense excitement cursing myself for being without a camera.

Then the myna dropped the butterfly. Oh! It fell right in the middle of the road and soon got run over by a passing car. Now I could see it's wings flipping in the rush of wind as each vehicle sped by, it's middle pasted to the road. The myna too hadn't lost sight of it. Another myna joined the first one and both began to circle over the dead butterfly. The first one, boldly stopped in the middle of the road, hopped over and tried to take it in its beak again. But just as it came near, a vehicle came whooshing and it quickly flew up.

This happened a couple of times. There was one time when it almost picked up the butterfly and I could see an approaching truck. I found myself muttering, "pick it up, pick it up, go, go!" But it didn't. And then it was time for me to move on. The entire drama had taken place in the space of about 60 to 90 seconds. The signal turned green on my side and the passage of vehicles stopped on the butterfly's side. But sadly, I couldn't see the ending of this enthralling pursuit. That remains a mystery.

Butterfly migration

The Purple Crow butterfly. Below - the safety nets on the Taiwan highway - Images from Chinapost

Today's story is more about thoughtfulness, which I find much lacking in today's world. Taiwan is so sensitive about the population of a certain kind of butterfly in its country that it has closed an entire highway to traffic. From mid-March onwards for about a month thousands of Purple Crow butterflies migrate over this section of the highway towards the north to breed after spending winter down south in the island where its warmer.

The special precautionary actions came after 2007 when many of these butterflies were hit on the highway by speeding vehicles. Since then an entire conservation project was launched and the protective measures include a driving speed limit of 37mph and a two mile road block when the butterfly numbers exceed 500.

The migration in Taiwan, which is only one of two mass butterfly migrations worldwide, offers a beautiful spectacle. Taiwan has one of the highest densities of butterflies in the world and has been named 'Kingdom of Butterflies.' I hope they continue the conservation efforts and I hope to see this someday!

Read more on the migration