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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 29, 2021 16:27:16 GMT -8
I can truly say that in my life I have influenced at least four people to have a greater appreciation of nature and especially a more fascinating view of insects.
Two of my childhood friends actively took up the hobby and did it for a while... One has continued doing so -- the last I heard.
A third friend made several visits to the field with me and enjoyed the "thrill of the hunt"; although he never made a personal collection. He came to have a great appreciation for nature in general and that is something he may never of had if I not sparked some kind of interest.
And a nephew of mine ranks as the fourth person I have influenced; and although he does not personally collect as I do he too now has a broad interest in nature (in general) and he loves going afield with me whenever possible.
I am happy that others will always remember me as the one who opened their eyes to the wonders of the natural world.
And now they see insects not as just "bugs" but, as myriad fascinating creatures not to be merely overlooked...
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Post by kevinkk on Sept 29, 2021 17:15:04 GMT -8
I can claim greater awareness, but no other hobbyists. I give my relatives displays as gifts, and that has let them notice butterflies and moths at least in a different way. Dad liked trying to net butterflies on road trips, and lately Mom has been going with me, and even though she let my last swallowtail out of the field cage accidentally, I know she likes going out with me, but never again will I spend the night in the cab of the truck running the uv light.
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Post by johnnyboy on Sept 30, 2021 5:18:15 GMT -8
My son has, I think been influenced by my interests in entomology, natural history and astronomy. That being said, I think that a passion for the subject largely comes from within and is genetic as I have several insect collecting friends who have children with zero interest in the hobby, none of their wider families have any interest in entomology either. I have 8 siblings none of whom share my interests (my younger brother exceptionally has a passing interest in natural history)
Johnny
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 30, 2021 8:12:57 GMT -8
Yes, I agree we "men of the net" are unique individuals for having such an innate "natural born" interest oftentimes from a very young age...
Whilst, some of the famous historic naturalists of old oftentimes had fathers with an interest in botany, entomology, or some related natural history science; others of us just come into this world and (at a very young age) and without anyone to mentor us -- are captivated by the flighty little things that we see all around us in the out of doors and in our gardens.
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Post by 58chevy on Sept 30, 2021 8:26:27 GMT -8
I was influenced by my grandfather, a naturalist who influenced and educated many young people in his hometown. He helped his son (my uncle) collect, identify, & mount specimens for his 4-H Club collection. He won 1st place several years in a row. Finally they told him he would have to start an entirely new collection if he wanted to enter the following year. At that point he quit collecting, but my first priority when visiting there was to see my uncle's collection. It inspired me to start my own collection when I was about 8 years old. Now my 5-year-old grandson seems to have gotten "the bug". He picks up every bug he sees and likes to look at my collection. Maybe he'll start his own collection when he gets a little older.
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Post by bugboys3 on Sept 30, 2021 8:52:19 GMT -8
I think I have influenced many people with my appreciation of insects and nature in general. My mother taught me to appreciate nature at a young age. When I started a family I taught my children to appreciate nature and entomology specifically. They were all active in 4-H and had insect collections in the annual 4-H fair. My middle son has been my collecting partner for many years and has accompanied me to Arizona on 3 separate trips.
I also own a garden center and in the months of March & April (prepandemic) we would hold Saturday seminars on various garden related topics. For the past several years I would do a talk on insects. Topics included Garden Bugs, Pollinators, Insect Pests, etc. At these talks I would bring in several of my cases to "show off". This always was a big hit with our customers and would generate some good discussions.
This past summer I was able to do a couple of presentations at our local Boy Scout summer camp. I talked about insects and how I collect them. I brought several cases of insects to show the kids. Some local insects, some Arizona stuff, & some tropicals. Needless to say the kids ate that up and wanted to know what everything was.
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Post by 58chevy on Sept 30, 2021 10:28:43 GMT -8
Bugboys3, I remember seeing pictures of your kids' 4-H collections on this website many years ago. I'm sure the current forum members would appreciate seeing them again, plus the new stuff you have collected since.
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Post by miguel on Oct 2, 2021 1:37:25 GMT -8
I don't know if I can say that is an influence but recently a friend of mine that is against butterfly collecting visited me for a dinner,It was a surprise to me that he asked me to show my butterflies boxes,maybe I had begin to change his opinion.
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Post by trehopr1 on Oct 2, 2021 10:42:55 GMT -8
It sounds to me Miguel like you may have "lit a fire" or spark there of interest -- in beautiful things...
We all know that beauty of any kind doesn't last. It times out.
Perhaps, by showing your friend your wonderful curated collection he has realized that beauty is not always fleeting; and that it can indeed be preserved (at times) for the long term and under the right conditions.
Also collections offer fond memories of places you have been, events of the day, and even people you may have met along the way...
Even if he doesn't want to do field work himself there are fairs available to him where beautiful things can be purchased and still treasured for the rest of his life.
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Post by bugboys3 on Oct 7, 2021 12:45:19 GMT -8
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Post by eleodes on Oct 7, 2021 13:48:33 GMT -8
As someone who did entomology in 4-H, I always enjoy seeing collections like this. If you don't mind me asking though, what state was this? I don't recognize the rules.
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Post by 58chevy on Oct 7, 2021 16:15:40 GMT -8
Thanks, Bugboys3. Those are the best 4-H collections I've ever seen.
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Post by bugboys3 on Oct 7, 2021 17:55:16 GMT -8
As someone who did entomology in 4-H, I always enjoy seeing collections like this. If you don't mind me asking though, what state was this? I don't recognize the rules. This was in Wisconsin.
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Post by bugboys3 on Oct 7, 2021 18:01:12 GMT -8
Thanks, Bugboys3. Those are the best 4-H collections I've ever seen. We had a lot of fun putting the collections together. Everywhere we went we brought butterfly nets. It became a competition between the 2 boys to see who could catch the most or have the coolest bugs. The last year my younger son was in 4H he had over 500 specimens in his collection and it was most likely the largest collection in our counties history. I still have people tell me they miss seeing the collections at the fair. Participation in 4H today is way down and there are less than half the displays that there were 8-10 years ago.
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Post by miguel on Oct 8, 2021 2:55:51 GMT -8
Maybe this is a silly question but,What is 4H?
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