How to Catch a Prairie Faerie

Being native to greener shores, faeries are a rare find on the prairies, but some do live here. We think they must have crossed the ocean with Irish families and then found their way to the prairies hiding in covered wagons. We've often seen faeries masquerading as dragon flies on hazy summer days here at our own homestead on the high prairies of Colorado.

But when Theresa told me she thought she'd seen something bright darting around the back of the house today, I was skeptical. It's a very windy, quite chilly day here. The tulips are just barely above ground and the buds on the trees are only now beginning to swell. It's not the time of year yet for butterflies or dragonflies ~ not to mention faeries!

Nevertheless, Theresa was sure. And she was sure it was faeries, not butterflies. So, she grabbed a jar with a hole-punctured lid, and set out, determined to capture one. I followed with the camera ~ just in case.

She thought she'd try near the cedars first, as that seemed like a good place for faeries to hide.
She found nothing in the little hole at the bottom of this tree, though it seemed a likely place...
Having no luck in the cedars, Theresa thought it might be a good idea to check out the old tree house.
Nothing stirred there, though, but some birds working on a nest, so she wandered out into the tall grass near the front ten pasture...
And, hey! What's this hiding here in this green tuft of grass?The sweetest little faerie!

At first Theresa tried to catch her in the jar, but it just didn't seem to be the right thing to do. The wee faerie was hunkered down in the grass, shivering, and looked up at Theresa with a very pleasant sort of expression. Of course she didn't want to climb into the jar, but she agreed to have a little chat with Theresa, as long as she put down the jar, and as long as Theresa didn't ask her name. (A faerie only tells you her name when she trusts you and is ready to be your friend, you see.)

Theresa agreed to those terms and asked why the little faerie was outside on such a chilly, windy day. Apparently it's because she and her sister just couldn't wait for a nicer day to go out in the sunshine in their new Easter dresses (Yes, faeries do celebrate Easter; they're Catholic, of course, having originated in Ireland!). But she did admit that it was very cold outside and difficult to fly in such wind. She was grateful for Theresa's warm hand.

As Theresa and the faerie were talking, another, smaller faerie flew up and joined them. (Here she is, below, the little sister.) The little sister is a bit of an ornery little faerie, and picked a fight with Theresa right off the bat. First of all, she made her big sister sit on the ground, while she hogged up Theresa's warm palm. Then she wanted to know why we didn't have an Easter egg hunt outside this year, and wouldn't accept the reasoning that it had snowed the night before Easter. It seems the faeries make out quite well on Easter egg hunts, and she was quite put out not to have a share in this year's booty.

"You could have hidden candy and eggs in the snow!" she said, "You could have worn coats!"

She became quite abusive, accusing us of being selfish and lazy. Theresa tried to explain to the little sister faerie that it was none of her doing, but the little thing just wouldn't listen.

Theresa started to get irritated (and she doesn't irritate easily), and warned the little faerie to be nice, or she'd put her in the jar. This made the little thing really angry. As you can see by the picture below, you don't want to make a little faerie angry. It casts a gloom.

But, Theresa's had enough experience dealing with little brothers and sisters that she wasn't about to take abuse from such a tiny fluttering girl. She told her, "Faeries are supposed to be charming and gentle and pretty, but you're just a greedy little brat!"

That's when the little faerie bit Theresa's thumb.

And, just as Theresa scooped up the little stinker into the jar, her big sister flew in, too.

So here they are, on the top of the computer desk. They're not very happy about being there. But we are feeding them pieces of jelly beans and peeps, which cheers them up considerably.

We're trying to decide if we should let them go right away, or make a little house for them in our old birdcage.