August is packing Geauga Park District with up-close-and-personal caterpillar, moth and butterfly experiences!
For tons of all-ages fun, hit the Caterpillar Extravaganza on Sunday, August 20, noon to 4 p.m. at The West Woods Nature Center. The highlight of this unique event will feature live, native caterpillars on their host plants in an open air display. Many of these stunning giants, representing the giant silk moth species, will be available to touch, hold and photograph. Be sure to bring your camera for various photo stations. You may also bring a caterpillar to the program to have it identified, or to add to our display and get a free field guide!
Additionally, a professional face painter will be creating designs of native caterpillars, butterflies and moths; make a caterpillar mask; tag your own Monarch butterfly; look through microscopes; take home a souvenir cocoon; learn the basics of rearing your own caterpillars; and event more!
Wondering how Field Naturalist Tami Gingrich came across so many caterpillars for this neat hands-on event? Join her a week later for The Art of Rearing Caterpillars on Sunday, August 27, 1 to 3 p.m. in The West Woods Nature Center. Tami has been raising butterflies and moths her whole life, and she will pack this presentation with unbelievable photos and helpful techniques for raising your own, as well as some live specimens on display.
Plus, on Friday, August 25, bring your flashlights to Swine Creek Reservation between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. for Moth Baiting & Black-Lighting to discover beautiful late summer moths drawn to black light and mercury vapor lights. Night owls can also hike with a naturalist through the woods to visit trees that have been bated with a special concoction to lure in some of the most beautiful moths of the year, the Underwings!
Registration is not required for any of these programs. Please call 440-286-9516 with questions.
