The Great Smoky Mountains Will Be Lit Up With Fireflies This Summer And I Want to Go
What a sight to see! The Great Smoky Mountains will be glowing with Fireflies!
I remember catching Fireflies as a kid, but we called them Lightening Bugs! As soon as dusk would hit, we would be outside hunting them! So magical!
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park borders North Carolina and Tennesee. It is absolutely gorgeous there. It is also the home of 19 different firefly species.
One of those being the Synchronous fireflies (Photinus carolinus). This is the only species of Fireflies in America that can synchronize their flashing light patterns.
Tennesee is already getting ready for this 8-day event! The event normally takes place in late May or early June. But there is not a date set yet.
See, they have to predict the optimal mating time. Yes, you read that right….mating time.
The whole event is based on the sexy time for the Fireflies.
During the Firefly mating season, the males will flash their lights to locate the females. Then the females flash their light back and it is this beautiful display for us voyeurs.
The event is so popular that you have to enter a lottery to get a chance to get a ticket. The lottery will open on April 24th at 8 am and close on April 28th at 8 pm. The dates of the event will be set before the lottery takes place.
Winners of the lottery will be notified on May 7th if they have won or not. Then you can pay the $24 attendance fee which will get you a spot to park your car. I hope to see this one day!
