PLEASE NOTE: Tickets are $35 and must be purchased or reserved in advance by Friday, May 9. See details below

The Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists (MVFN), founded in the spring of 1988, will hold their fifth annual Spring Gathering on Thursday May 15th. The evening will include a banquet and a keynote presentation entitled Caterpillars Talk and Butterflies Listen which will be given by Dr. Jayne Yack, acoustic ecologist at Carleton University.

Once thought to be both deaf and mute, we now know that caterpillars can talk and butterflies can listen. During their daily activities these creatures communicate via a wide range of sounds and vibrations. Caterpillars send signals to defend territories or to startle predators. Butterflies eavesdrop on predators. Tap into the secret communication channels of the acoustic sensory world of insects and meet translator, Dr. Yack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Jayne Yack connects with a spectacular Blue Morpho butterfly

MVFN’s Spring Gathering will take place Thursday May 15, 2014 at the Almonte Civitan Community Hall, 500 Almonte St., just west of Highway 29, in Almonte. The reception will begin at 6:00 pm with a chance to meet, share a drink, and chat with friends. The banquet commences at 6:45 and will be followed by the featured presentation at approximately 8 pm. Tickets are $35 and must be purchased or reserved in advance by Friday, May 9. Tickets may be purchased in Almonte at Gilligallou Bird Inc., 14 Mill St. Unit 3 (613-461-7333), in Carleton Place at Read’s Book Shop, 135 Bridge St. (613-257-7323), in Lanark at New Runway Clothing, 46 George St. (613-259-5677), and in Perth at The Office, 11 Wilson St. (267-2172). For more information or to reserve your tickets for pick up at the venue on May 15th please contact MVFN’s Brenda Boyd (; 613-256-2706)