Keeping Summer Magic Alive

When I was a kid, I always felt there was something a little magical about summer nights.

I was fascinated by all those stars glittering overhead. I used to spend whole evenings gazing up at the sky, trying to trace as many constellations as I could.

Back then, I could see the Milky Way from my backyard. It was nowhere near the spectacular display that greeted me every year when we vacationed in Minnesota near the Canadian border, but it was still visible.

(If you’ve never seen the Milky Way in a really clear sky like that, you have NO idea what you’re missing. It’s truly unforgettable.)

We also had magical twinkling lights that were much, much closer — fireflies, or as we always called them, lightning bugs.

In those days, there were a gazillion lightning bugs flying around our neighborhood. It was a rite of summer to punch holes in a jar lid and make a sort of lightning bug lantern by filling the jar with as many lightning bugs as we could catch.

I’d like to think we released the bugs before we came inside for the night, but I honestly don’t remember and I fear the worst.

I wish I’d known then how scarce fireflies were going to become in later years. For the last 15 years or so, I’ve considered myself lucky to spot more than a couple of them in my yard at one time.

I was reminded of all this a few weeks ago when Jeanne Flanders asked me to mention how dusk-to-dawn lights are interfering with fireflies.

You don’t hear much about light pollution, but it definitely exists and like the other types of pollution, it’s detrimental to all forms of life. The way the Milky Way has faded from view and the fireflies’ dwindling numbers are just a couple of the more obvious examples of its effects.

Light pollution can have negative, sometimes even deadly, consequences for wildlife and ecosystems, it wastes money and energy, and it can impact your health by disrupting your circadian sleep rhythms which increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other serious conditions.

You can learn more about light pollution at darksky.org. DarkSky International is a nonprofit organization with a presence in over 70 countries. It works to protect our natural nighttime environment by promoting the responsible use of outdoor lighting through education, advocacy and conservation. 

Realistically, I know I’ll never be able to see the Milky Way from my backyard again, but maybe it’s not too late for the fireflies.

Pretty much everything you might want to know about fireflies and how to save them can be found at www.firefly.org, the Firefly Conservation & Research website I mentioned in the previous column.

Suburban sprawl, the increased use of pesticides and light pollution are believed to be major causes of the firefly population’s decline.

New housing and commercial developments are destroying the open fields and forests that are the fireflies’ natural habitats, while pesticides kill off the insects and other creatures they eat.

Light pollution is particularly damaging. Different species of fireflies use their own special flash pattern to attract mates. When too much artificial light is present, fireflies can’t communicate properly. If they can’t find each other, they can’t mate and fewer fireflies will be born the following year.

Growing native plants, adding a water feature and allowing leaf litter to accumulate in your yard are just some of the ways to help fireflies survive.

Also, turn off exterior lights at night or use motion detectors. If you feel you MUST have exterior lights, use warm yellow, amber or red LED lights rather than bright bluish-white LED lights.

If we let a little wildness into our yards, maybe we can keep some of that summer magic alive.

Paula Dunn’s From Time to Thyme column appears on Wednesdays in The Times. Contact her at younggardenerfriend@gmail.com