How to...try to kill yourself while catching a butterfly

[Paul K]

It was a beautiful day on Koh Samui, the last day of my collecting/research trip to south Thai Islands.
I wanted to spend it of course on collecting some perhaps rare species which I should missed for sure.
So I went to near by stream and waterfall with hopes to find something I have not find yet.
I have collected some specimens , but the most specimen I was happy with was Kanisca canace canace , common species but beautiful butterfly resemble Vanessa atalanta but instead of red bend having a blue .
At the stream I have encounter rare specimen of Papilio iswara iswara . It is a very big butterfly, similar in pattern to P.helena but much more big . It was patrolling the stream along. I missed the swing of my net three times as he was passing by . After waiting about an hour I was sure that he went somewhere else or being eaten by a bird I started to pay attention to some small Lycaenidae and other butterflies.
As my time was getting to an end I have catch a day flying moth mimicking of some Danaidae.
In the corner of my eye while setting the moth I saw the Papilio I was waiting for two hours.
I quickly put my box down with today's catch on the rock and look around for my net.
Unfortunately the box slipped down the rock to the stream hitting the rock below opened and drift away.
Quickly I ran to the water to retrieved my specimens.
I collected most of them , but I jumped on the rock back quickly to get back in my chase.
Now with my slippery shoes I slipped of the rock falling couple of meters to the stream. In my mind I thought it is over as I would hit some rock below.
Luckly I end up in the soft sandy bottom but with my leg twisted in the knee
Losing all my specimens I have straight my leg with the pain, just to find out it is not broken and I am still alive.
In pain I crawled on to the rocks out of the water, the Papilio was still flying around my head as it never did before and I am sure he laugh and say I won this game.
You are the loser.

Paul







What is your story?

[wollastoni]

Who said butterfly collecting was for kids ?

Sorry for your tough day, sometimes such things happen, especially when chasing near streams or in mountains.
I also fell twice in West Papua : once in a big stream because of a Delias, once in a slope during a strong rain... I was lucky not breaking my head on a rock in the middle of nowhere.

I also had some memorable falls in the French Alps, chasing some Colias palaeno or Pontia species !

These are the hazards of butterfly collecting, as well described by Torben Larsen.

[Paul K]

...but we all go to our business next day

Paul

[exoticimports]

Paul, don't be too sad, we've all been there.

Chuck

Two years ago I got a few free minutes and took a longtail boat ride on the Chao Phraya. I spotted something very interesting and said to the boat driver "I didn't know you had crocodiles here." He replied "we don't. Only lizards." I smiled that wry smile of someone who knows something you don't and stated "well you do now."

[Adam Cotton]

Mar 18, 2016 12:05:57 GMT exoticimports said:

Paul, don't be too sad, we've all been there.

Chuck

Two years ago I got a few free minutes and took a longtail boat ride on the Chao Phraya. I spotted something very interesting and said to the boat driver "I didn't know you had crocodiles here." He replied "we don't. Only lizards." I smiled that wry smile of someone who knows something you don't and stated "well you do now."

Every so often crocodiles escape from farms and end up in the Chao Phraya river, especially after floods. I read the diary of the famous botanist Koenig, who visited Bangkok more than 200 years ago. He said that there were very many crocodiles everywhere, but according to the locals apparently they weren't dangerous, unlike the much larger ones found up-river.

Adam.