TALK BACK TODAY
Posted: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:46 PM by Katharine Billman
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Talk Back Today
Here at Today, we are used to spectacles on the plaza. Summer concerts, celebrities, and fashion shows are all part of a normal day on the show. But walking out on the plaza this week had us all saying “wow.” For our week-long series “Today Goes Wild” we have had a huge giraffe, a giant salt-water aquarium, and today a tent full of thousands of butterflies. WATCH VIDEO It was an awesome sight for all of us here, but many of you watching from home were quite impressed as well. Here are some of your e-mails:
Good morning Meredith,
My 7 year old, first grader is so thrilled this morning to see your segment on the butterfly migration. It couldn't have come at a better time, her class let their Painted Lady Butterflies free yesterday, here on the Gulf Coast of Florida, Venice in Sarasota County. It was beautiful, on a small scale!! They have raised them from that very first stage of life, nurturing them carefully. It was a wonderful experience for the children.
I can tell you that you were truly envied by a first grader this morning!! She is still begging to be right there where you were!
Have a wonderful day!
Allison Horsley and daughter, Rebekah
Hi Meredith,
I thought that the story on the butterflies was awesome. I didn't think there were anymore butterflies left. I can remember when I was a kid catching them and there were tons of them but now you’re lucky to see one or two all summer. I was so glad to see them and that would be my cup of tea to see all those. As a result of that story I am going to buy some kind of a butterfly bush or two for my house. I know that doesn't seem like much but at least I know they are still around. Thank you for a wonderful story. I could really tell you enjoyed it. By the way I really like you on the today show. Everything seems more comfortable there, more at ease and fun. Have a good day and a job well done.
--Michelle (Ohio)
Dear Meredith,
I have a 14year-old son Andrew who lives, eats, and breathes everything butterflies. We have taken him to several butterfly exhibits and he tells the people who work there facts about the butterflies. He can also name the butterflies with out the cards. Last summer he spent over $120.00 on plants to attract butterflies in his garden. He has had a passion for bugs and butterflies since he was young, he was the only one who could spell entomologist in the second grade. Andrew gets many phone calls from family and friends about plants and bugs. He loved your story about the butterflies. Thanks for doing the story.
-- Shay Cronk (Colorado Springs, CO)
Dear Meredith,
I’d like to tell you how much I enjoyed your segment on the Monarch butterflies this morning! Going to see the Monarchs in their over-wintering grounds in Mexico has long been a dream of mine. I felt as though I had gone there vicariously and seen them through your eyes! I have seen many still photos of them there, but to see them explode into the air as the sun warmed them was just incredible! It was interesting to see what you had to do to get up the mountain to go to the preserve too. In 1994 I went to Pacific Grove in California to see the western Monarchs, but I was about one week too early and only about 10 had arrived yet.
I am an elementary science and environmental education teacher in Oak Ridge, TN. For the past 21 years I have shared my love for Monarchs with my students. We have a garden with milkweed at my school, each year the kids get to watch the lifecycle from egg to butterfly in their rooms. I’ve also shared the experience with students at an outdoor summer science camp by bringing in captive caterpillars. Going through a month-long life cycle with these creatures can get interesting, I’ve been known to take caterpillars into the grocery store in a small cage so they wouldn’t get too hot in my car while I was shopping! One October I had to take a chrysalis to Florida when my husband and I went to help my parents clean up from Hurricane Ivan. The butterfly came out in the car as we were driving through Alabama. We released her on a goldenrod plant at a rest stop. I laughed that she got a 200-mile head start to Mexico! I’m such a fan of these beautiful insects one of my old "vanity " license plates was MONARCH!
For the past 4 years I have been working on a nature website. One of the galleries is dedicated to butterflies, moths and caterpillars. The first part of it is on the lifecycle of the Monarch. Since you have had the wonderful experience of seeing where they end up, I thought you might enjoy seeing how they start out. The only photo I don’t have is of the butterflies mating! But I guess it would take a trip to Mexico to see that! Here is the link to that gallery: http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=Butterflies
Thanks to NBC for helping share the natural wonders of this planet! People often think of just the cute and furry animals when they talk of saving the earth, but it is the critters with more than 4 legs that are in the majority, if they can’t survive, nothing else can. My hope is that eco-tourism will encourage the locals in Mexico to protect the butterflies’ habitat. Matt and Ann’s segments on the humpback whales and the orangutans were great too. What a wonderful job "perk" it is for the Today Show crew to get to travel to such interesting places and see such fantastic creatures! I know it is hard work, but your fans appreciate it!
Sincerely,
Kris Light
Thank you so much for showing the segment on Monarch butterflies. I really enjoyed it. Usually subjects like that are only shown on Public Broadcast Stations, not on mainstream stations.
Sincerely,
Brenda Dziedzic (Westland, MI)
Be sure to watch tomorrow for arctic animals! What do you think has been the highlight so far in our series, “Today Goes Wild”? Send us your comments.
