Butterfly man

When your name is “Dan” there are lots of words it rhymes with. Former York resident and 1971 York High School graduate Dan Staehr added one of them to his moniker when he joined the staff of the Lincoln Children’s Zoo and became “Dan the Butterfly Man.”
Job requirements for being a “butterfly man” include and are not limited to: a love of nature, for which Dan credits his mom, Margie Staehr of York; and an interest in science, fostered by YHS biology instructor Ken Withee; owning a butterfly net (Dan has one hanging in his office, but doesn’t use it much) and a wide-brim jungle hat.
“Mr. Withee really helped me when I was working to become an Eagle Scout. I think I got every nature badge there was including insect study,” Dan tells.
Nature it was and nature it is for Dan who worked as a weatherman for 25 years before accepting a position at the Pioneer Park Nature Center and later at the Children’s Zoo.
Dan’s home away from home is Laura’s Butterfly Pavilion located right smack dab in the middle of the zoo. The permanent structure is new. It was dedicated on May 24, 2008, replacing the Zoo’s temporary butterfly display which was 30 percent smaller. Much of the Pavilion, which is 15 feet tall at its peak, is covered with mesh, allowing sunlight and breezes in without letting butterflies out. It is a free-flight aviary containing anywhere from 300-500 butterflies native to North America.
According to John Chapo, zoo president and CEO, the Pavilion was named for Laura Francke, “Laura’ Francke lived through the dustbowl on a farm in Nebraska. She never married, and yet during the depression of the 1930s, she was a foster mother to over 40 children. She rented out most of her land, but always kept a garden and a few chickens and cows, along with the farmhouse she shared with children far less fortunate than you and me. When Eleanor Francke, a former LPS educator, decided to present a gift to the children of Lincoln in memory of her late husband G. Harry Francke, she decided to also honor Harry's Aunt Laura with the Pavilion's name.”
Sweet, colorful flowers such as zinnia, starflower and lantana provide perches for the Pavilion’s winged inhabitants. Black and yellow Zebra Longwings, familiar orange and black Monarchs, Tiger Swallowtails, White Peacocks and Black Swallowtails move lightly, flitting in, out and around.
Each of the butterflies floating about emerged just a few feet away. There aren’t any caterpillars at the Zoo ... but there are plenty of chrysalises.
“Every week (usually on Friday) we get in 200 chrysalises,” Dan explains, “they are shipped overnight from a butterfly farm in Florida. The Zoo has a permit from the USDA. You have to have one to move butterflies from state to state because in some states certain butterflies are categorized as pests.”
Chrysalises arrive in large sheets which have been divided into separate little pouches, one for each. Some of the chrysalises are smooth and light green in color, others appear brown and leafy, while some seem white and milky looking.
According to Dan, each bright green chrysalis will yield a Monarch butterfly — the brown-leafy ones with horns will give birth to Zebra Longwings.
Friday is a busy day for Dan the Butterfly Man. Each of the new chrysalises must be checked in, recorded and carefully removed from its protective pocket. Then, believe it or not, each chrysalis is hot glued onto a board and placed in a climate controlled emergence case.
“When they make a chrysalis, the little caterpillar makes a silk pad to attach itself to the plant so it can hang on the stem,” Dan says. “That same pad is what we use to glue the chrysalis onto the board.”
The amount of time it takes a caterpillar to grow from birth into a butterfly depends on the species. For a Monarch to morph into an adult butterfly it takes approximately one month, according to Dan.
“The Monarch lays one to two eggs per leaf, so there will be lots of food for the baby caterpillar ... they aren’t dumb. They lay eggs on new leaves so they won’t be tough. Baby caterpillars feed of that leaf for three to five days before moving on. Caterpillars molt (shed their skin) several times. The last time it molts the outer skin forms a chrysalis.
“By the way,” Dan informs, “it is not a cocoon ... a moth has a cocoon. Butterflies have chrysalises.”
 It takes 10-15 days for the transformation from caterpillar to Monarch to occur.
Kids visiting the Children’s Zoo are able to watch that transformation through a glass window as butterflies emerge before their eyes.
Another thing kids get to do while visiting the Pavilion is hold one, two or more of Dan the Butterfly Man’s butterflies. Zoo Crew volunteers are on hand to answer questions and spray the fingers of children with a sweet sticky solution.
“Butterflies taste with their feet,” Dan informs. That’s why spraying a bit of sugar water entices butterflies to step right onto kids’ fingers.
Over the course of a year thousands of children have the opportunity to meet Dan the Butterfly Man. Everyday visits, school programs and zoo schools provide plenty of chances for kids to learn about butterflies and Dan to get to know area children. And when he’s not at the Zoo, Dan operates his own computer web design technology business ... and raises butterflies.
It’s clear the jovial man in the oversized hat loves his “job.” At the age of 50-something Dan is thrilled to be “working” at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, facilitating interaction between children of all ages and the graceful butterfly.