The dark scared me when I was little, especially my room. The grain of the wood on the closet doors changed into faces and animals in the night. While my brain knew that these were just doors, there was a more primitive part of me that just knew there were ghosts, ghouls, and haunts lurking on the edge of the room and waiting to get me.

My fear of the dark as a kid was later replaced with fascination. As I got older, the night life called to me. Skunks wandered through the yard, poking for grubs and followed by a curious 10-year-old. Opossums ate the cat’s food in the dark, caught by our headlights with a toothy grin as we came home. We chased fireflies in the dark and put them in jars.

One time, there were whole bunches of us on the edge of the field in the backyard. We each had a Mason jar with holes poked into the lid and ran along collecting fireflies. It may have been the Fourth of July, since there were sparklers in the lawn as well.

With a pack of kids hunting them, the fireflies became harder to catch. Much discussion, probably mostly wrong, about where to find them and how to catch them ensued. Memory ends there. Later, they were probably released and the jars washed and used for tomato sauce.

As a kid, I took fireflies for granted. Night came and they flickered about the yard and let us catch them. No one ever wondered why they lit up or where they came from. It wasn’t something we thought about. Fireflies just were. They were a part of summer, and fields and dew-laden nights. They were, I thought, everywhere. I thought wrong.

Fireflies seem to be disappearing. Anecdotally, there seems to be fewer fireflies now than there were years ago. Unfortunately, there is no solid data that says how many fireflies there were in the past. The visual indication that there are fewer fireflies has many people worried, though.

The Museum of Science in Massachusetts started a study called Firefly Watch a few years ago to begin collecting information on firefly populations. For the few weeks of the firefly season, volunteers record their firefly sightings and report them online. The maps generated by these sightings give researchers baseline information about how many fireflies are out there and what kind they are.

While this information is being collected by coalitions of scientists and citizens, scientists are trying to answer some basic questions. Do street lights interfere with fireflies mating? Most fireflies light up to find a mate. It is possible that light pollution could make it harder for them to find a mate, resulting in fewer eggs being laid. Could how we take care of our lawn affect fireflies? Obviously, spraying pesticides can kill the young, but what about mowing and fertilizers?

There is so much we don’t know about fireflies, that it is hard to say what is happening to the populations and what is causing the change. What we do know is that a forest full of fireflies is magical.

The Audubon Nature Center has been home to the most amazing firefly experiences of my adult life. There have been times when I have been doing research at the Nature Center at night and been blown away by the sheer number of fireflies on the trails. One night, there were so many fireflies that it was like walking through a fairyland of blinking lights. The whole forest was lit up as thousands of fireflies came out. Never before or since have I seen so many at once, but I continue to look.

Fireflies have amazed me on and off for years. When I was younger, I stayed up all night camping at Handsome Lake along the Allegheny Reservoir, watching as new fireflies came out every couple of hours and others went to sleep. A friend gave me a tour of Pittsburgh from a firefly’s point of view. They were gone from big, rich houses with pesticide guzzling lawns and flourishing in the poorer neighborhoods, where lawns were mowed but not poisoned.

Fireflies are just plain remarkable. They are more than just a cool insect to find in the yard. They could be a great indicator for the unexpected ways we affect the world around us with the extra night light on the porch or the chemicals sprayed to chase away the Japanese Beetles.

It is because they are so amazing that I am leading a Firefly Hike at the Audubon Nature Center on Saturday, June 27, from 9-10:30 p.m. My dream is that we will see a dazzling light show like the one I encountered years ago. Regardless, some of the many local fireflies will be out, including the somewhat elusive Synchronous Fireflies, which all flash at the same time. Last year, we drove to see them in Allegany State Park. On our return, they were flashing in the Nature Center’s parking lot.

This year, they may be one of many kinds of fireflies that we will see. The program costs $12 or $9 for Friends of the Nature Center and older children who can stay out later. Registration is due by June 25. Participants are encouraged to wear insect repellent and bring a flashlight. Flashlight use will be kept to a minimum in order to not interrupt the fireflies’ communication.

More information is available at jamestownaudubon.org. The Audubon Nature Center is located at 1600 Riverside Road near Jamestown and serves the Chautauqua and Warren County region. Jeff Tome is a naturalist at the Nature Center.