Daily Telegraph article

[bobw]

Those of you in Britain may have noticed an article in the gardening section of the Daily Telegraph this morning entitled "All is not lost for the British butterfly". It discusses the decrease in numbers of butterflies in Britain over the years and suggests that everyone can help by planting the right sort of nectar and foodplants in their gardens.

As one would expect from this sort of article in the national press there are factual errors. The caption on the first page says that the species illustrated are the Adonis blue and grizzled skipper, in actual fact they are a large blue and some kind of moth. On the second page a heath fritillary is illustrated with the caption "false heath fritillary, which of course isn't even found in Britain.

The bulk of the article is taken up with an interview with Sir David Attenborough as the president of Butterfly Conservation (the former BBCS or Ban Butterfly Collecting Society as I like to call it). He recalls how he used to collect butterflies as a boy but then comes the really dangerous quote: "But, let me be absolutely clear: you can't collect butterflies now, or birds' eggs or some flowers. It's against the law, and I welcome the law".

Like most people, I have a huge amount of respect for Sir David and I really hope that somebody else has been putting words into the great man's mouth. We know that collecting birds' eggs is now illegal, but like flowers, there are only a few species of butterfly that are illegal to collect in Britain. This level of ignorance is frightening and comments like that will only serve to harden the antagonism of the general public towards collectors. Most people reading this will have no reason to disbelieve such propaganda.

I did consider writing to the Telegraph's letters page to expose this lie, but I've done it before when they've published similar nonsense and they don't publish it, so it's probably not worth wasting my time.

Bob

[wingedwishes]

As industrialized economies degrade, fewer people will consider the wellfare of a butterfly. The newspaper might publish the letter when the identification errors are pointed out.

[saturniidave]

There is usually an online discussion page though Bob, you can post comments there and sometimes they are acted upon.
There was a line in the gardening page of The Sun today where the guy said he had seen his first Fritillary of the year! I suspect he needs to find the difference between a Fritillary and a Comma!
DAve

[Deleted]

It is so sad to read Bob that the pc brigade have even got through to the great man, the level of ignorance is laughable, it just make me even more determined to carry on, it makes me so angry at times that if anybody did approach me in the field to chastise me I would punch them in the face.

[dertodesking]

I also saw the article, Bob, and emailed them pointing out their factual errors. I'm not holding my breath waiting for a response though...after all, not many journalists let the truth get in the way of a good story, do they?

Its not just the press who get these things so wrong. I think this was discussed on the old forum but anyone else see or remember the episode of "Antiques Roadshow" with the butterfly collection? If anyone hasn't seen the programme the premise is that people can take their families heirlooms and antiques on to a TV show to be appraised and valued by a bunch of (so-called) experts...its normally fun to watch people think that their vase is from the Ming dynasty and priceless only for it to have been made in Hong Kong in 2010 and worth zip! ;D

Anyway, one family took a couple of cabinets containing some deceased relatives butterfly collection in it to be valued and the "expert" trotted out the line that "it's illegal to collect butterflies nowadays". From a brief look at the drawers there was NOTHING in there that could be considered remotely illegal. It's not like it was full of P. homerus or anything!!! ;D

Anyway, it's this kind of ill-informed "reporting" that leads to the general public thinking that not only are collectors a "bit strange" ( ) but that they're breaking the law.

Simon

[entoman]

I'm glad there is no such animosity towards collectors here in Florida. I've wondered on occasion what I'd do if I was unable to collect insects. In all likelihood I'd whittle away my hours playing video games, watching movies and t.v., and generally being a nonproductive member of society (I think I just described most of America's teenage population). Of course since that does not sound like a very appealing prospect, even if it were banned for some reason (in all likelihood not a good one) I would still continue the practice.

[dertodesking]

Hey Ento..!

I've only experienced what I'd call animosity on one occassion. I was in the countryside and during the course of the day only encountered two people/groups of people. The first group was a bunch of kids on mountain bikes who approached me mid-swing of the net and asked what I was doing. I told them that I collected butterflies and they seemed genuinely interested, asking lots of questions about how many "kinds" of butterflies there were in that area, what I did with them after catching them (they seemed all the more interested when I said "kill them"!!!), how I preserved them etc etc ;D

Later the same day I was approached by a well dressed (for the countryside) middle aged woman who stood about twenty foot away from me and shouted "murderer - you should be ashamed of yourself". In all honesty I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her stupidity!!! Anyway, I shouted something equally polite back at her ( ) and she turned and walked off.

What was interesting about the whole experience was that kids don't seem to have any hang-ups about nature of wanting to collect; it's only with age and experience comes close-mindedness and bigotry (clearly a generalisation - I'm NOT suggesting that everyone becomes close-minded with age)!!!

Simon

[saturniidave]

Simon, I have done a few talks and lectures over the years and I find it is the kids who are fascinated, no matter what age or where from. As mentioned above it is ill informed adults who cause the most grief especially the likes of Chris Packham and his 'butterfly huggers' They think all you need is a camera and a handbook and hey presto! you can identify any British butterfly or moth at a glance. Try to explain to these people that you sometimes need to kill them to correctly determine the species and they look at you as though you had just murdered a schoolgirl!
I have come across both kinds in the field over the years and will talk to those interested but those like the woman you describe Simon, I have no time for. In fact I would have described in lurid detail how I squeeze the life from a butterfly with my bare hands (or at least thumb and forefinger!).
I have a good friend who has an excellent strategy for this kind of person, he asks them what authority they have on the area he is collecting in to which the answer is always 'none'. So he then politely tells them to "F... off and mind their own business"! Works for him every time! ;D
Dave

[Deleted]

a fascination with entomology usually starts a a young age for most people, everything is exiting at that age, I really dont think that these middle class do gooders have any real interest in butterfly conservation they just need a bandwagon to jump on to fill up their boring meaningless existence, cant they go and cuddle a panda, swap partners on a swingers night or go and play with their rugger bugger mates, they make me sick, rant over.

[modestomoths]

I went out collecting with my kids yesterday afternoon along a well-travelled trail--of the dozen people we encountered, about half smiled and passed on while the other half stopped and expressed how wonderful it was that I was out teaching my kids about the natural world. One older man related how he used to collect chrysalises in the area in winter, take them home, and watch them eclose in the spring. No hostility. No questions about whether it is good to kill butterflies. No concern about the effect on populations.

The anti-collectors may be loud, but their message only appeals to a few misguided souls. The vast majority of people seem to have no problem with someone catching a few butterflies. Most are quite interested to learn more.

Travis

[bobw]

There seems to be a very different attitude to collecting in the US and in Britain. I was collecting in Washington and BC with an American friend last year and many people stopped to ask what we were doing and chat, and they all seemed interested. Even when we weren't collecting and talked to anyone, my friend told people almost immediately that we were collecting butterflies, which really shocked me. In Britain, I would have to know someone for a long time before I'd admit that I collect to them; there are people I've worked with for years who don't know! When people do find out I'd say that about 20% are interested and ask questions, about 50% just think I'm mad and ignore it, and about 30% are openly hostile.

Bob

[wingedwishes]

I have a printed hand out that I give to people who say anything to me. Those who refuse it are asked if they are able to read. Sometimes I say "Other than being rude, what have you done for butterfly populations?" Some sneer and walk away. Others are puzzled and this makes it easier to explain that I rasie and release many more than I keep as well as give away larval host plants. Lastly, to the really rude 'little old ladies' I sometimes say "you slaughter more insects in the grill of your car than a multitude of collectors." Ignorance is not bliss........it's venomous.

[saturniidave]

Now that is a good idea! I must get some done immediately!
Dave

[bobw]

Further to my original post, although I didn't write to the letters page of the Telegraph, somebody else did. They published a letter today by an M J Harvey of Great Bookham correcting their mistake and explaining the law correctly.

Bob

[saturniidave]

Bloody hell! Well, there's a first time for everything I suppose.