Penitentiary Glen Reservation holds 35th annual Bug Day

Sep. 8—The sound of steam whistles, hissing cockroaches, bees, cicadas and the excited screaming of children were combined during Lake Metroparks 35th annual Bug Day, held at Penitentiary Glen Reservation, 8668 Kirtland Chardon Road in Kirtland.

With over 4,000 people expected to attend the Sept. 8 event, park officials said that the celebration of bugs is one of their most highly attended events of the year — with Earth Day being its only competition.

Different stations were set up inside and outside of the Nature Center, with bottle cap bug crafts, Year of the Bat, 25-words or less Bug Bingo, Bug Beebop, Bee agile obstacle course, schoolhouse live bug zoo, insect costume parade, animal chats and live black widow spiders by Bugman Education followed by a fashion show, featuring the different staff and visitors who dressed up in their favorite bugs.

Shayna Swerdlow, the Schoolhouse Interpretive Manager for Lake Metroparks, said that this years theme was Instrumental Insects. She said that by giving visitors a chance to interact with different bugs — in a controlled way — that the introduction would be one way to bridge the divide between them and their arthropod friends.

"Crickets are a common one that people kind of know," Swerdlow said while dressed in her fly outfit covering her hair. "Cicadas is another insect that makes some noise, our hissing cockroaches at the Schoolhouse, we have Madagascar hissing cockroaches and they will hiss at ya. But you can hold one today and that's what everyone is crowded over there to do.

"Insects are a very important part of our ecosystem and people are either very fearful of them or they are very intrigued by them, but everybody has curiosity about the insects, and this gives folks the opportunity to get close up and personal with them in a controlled way. It's not in your home... and also understand why they are so important to our greater understanding of the ecosystem."

She said that most people know that insects, like bees and flies are pollinators, but that insects also benefit the environment in other, lesser-known ways as well. She said that the many activities set up around the park during Bug Day, including Ohio State University's Bugmobile, will hopefully showcase just how important bugs are to our world.

"There are so many different ways from pollination to supplying food for a lot of important animals in our habitat," Swerdlow said. "In the wildlife area you have an opportunity to taste a mealworm or a cricket which is fun. We are kind of using all of our senses to explore bugs — and it's another way to get people engaged — folks scream in either happiness or terror."

Lauren Jania, who was patiently waiting in line for the mini steam trains with her toddler and family, said that they were excited to visit Bug Day for the first time and that they found out about the event on Facebook.

"First time at Bug Day, and we are very, very excited," Jania said. "What initially drew us out was the live stream train and the Bug Days was an additional perk. We were able to see the monarch caterpillars and their cocoons. We just did their Milk and Honey event and that was a lot of fun too.

"We love the Metroparks, and we love the events, we love that the majority of them are at no cost, so it's a lot of fun. It's a beautiful day to be outdoors. ... And I've never seen the majority of those bugs up close, so it was a lot of fun."

For those who missed Bug Day, they won't have to wait another year to learn about the bugs that they might see every day. Swerdlow said that they can come any time of the year to visit Penitentiary Glen Reservation to learn more.

"We have an active beehive in the Nature Center that people can come and view at any time," Swerdlow said. "We also have programs called 'Catching Bugs' where we invite the public to come and catch bugs with us and talk about the importance of them and then release them"

"Just be curious about them, try to channel your inner child in a way and allow yourself to understand them a little deeper," she added. "We hope that this is one of those events that brings families together and sparks curiosity and learning. That's I think one of the biggest things that I want to get out to folks, that no matter your age, your ability, there is something here for everybody to learn about something a little deeper."

Originally Published: September 8, 2024 at 4:10 p.m.