northern base | Winged Beauty Butterflies

Mantid photographed by Jeff Zablow at Mountain State Park, Georgia

I’d read of them before, but had only seen such once in the United States. A mantid that lacked wings, and moved about on the ground only. A mantid not capable of short flights.

Where did I see this? On the peak of Mt. Hermon. Too bad YOU were not with me. You too would have stared and stared at this insect, like me, wondering aloud, why hadn’t G-d finished H-s work on this critter? It just looks like there was more to be added, but just no time to do so.

This mountaintop at the northeastern corner of the HolyLand/Israel is mostly closed nowadays, kept closed by the IDF (Israel Army (Israel Defense Forces)). It’s those more than 50,000 Iranian soldiers, they masquerading as Syrian soldiers, down at the northern base of Hermon, that must be watched, carefully watched.

Today Yaron Mishan shared pics of his fieldwork there, on Facebook, on the top of the mountain. Mama Mia! how I wish I could have joined him and the several others, seeking among the rarest butterflies in the world.

Jeff

Gonepteryx farinosa butterfly photographed by Jeffrey Zablow at Mt. Hermon, Israel

He’s a rare, very yellow butterfly, that you will never, ever get to see. Gonepteryx Farinosa flies in one of the 3 most violent places in the world, the peak of Mt. Hermon.

Crazy no? Here we are anticipating the year 2020, and this exotic large yellow, nectaring on one of Israel’s many species of thistle, lives on huge Mt. Hermon, lives surrounded by Israeli military personnel and sophisticated equipment. Why? Just below the peak of Mt. Hermon, on the northern base of Hermon, are killers. Killers of men, women and children. The last remnants of ISIL, the Syrian military, Hezbollah killers, Iran “advisers” and Iranian irregular killers, Hamas killers from Gaza, Pakistani advisers, North Korean advisers, Chinese advisers, possibly Cuban advisers, Russian advisers and who knows what other maladjusted men and women from the world’s savage countries.

You are unable to ascend Mt. Hermon. The Israeli military will not let you go up to see the 10, 11. or 12 very rare species of butterfly up there.

Me? How did I get this image? I went up to the peak with a guide, Eran, in June 2008, months after Frieda A”H (OBM) passed. My head not doing so well then. This unbelievable trip helped me, much. Was it safe then? It was before Syria was overrun by its own Rebels and by ISIL and the rest of the savage murderers. Even so, I was constantly off the trails (made over thousands of years by domestic cattle that roamed the mountain peak.), and I will never never forget when Eran called me over, to show me an untripped land mine quietly waiting for me to chase a butterfly its way!! That devil of a land mine was left over from earlier hostilities, on that magnificent peak.

Thank G-d for the safety of America and for the safety of nearly all of the 80 nations that some of you live in.

Jeff