Saturday, July 22, 2017

Butterflies! Butterflies! and more Butterflies!


Above, the Before Picture"...


After about 12 days, the butterfly emerges from it's tight enclosure (on the lower left, above) with amazing speed, (like, 2 seconds) once it is ready. The swallowtail above was out for a few hours, since its wings are well expanded.

 After it has had time to dry off and expand, we take it--cage and all--outside. Sometimes they have to be coaxed onto your finger and lifted out, to fly away. Sometimes, they want to ride around on your finger for a while. They are surprisingly individual.


This one settled on a cone flower in the garden and sat for several hours, another perched in a tree for a while, others soar immediately and disappear.


When they first emerge, their wings are tiny.




Here is a glorious example! We charmed both sets our neighbors' visiting grandchildren with this venture.

The photos have all shown different butterflies--we've released about a dozen at least, by now. The one shown above was especially individual. After his/her purge, traveled around the cage for hours trying to decide where to settle; finally was happy with a place at the very top of the cage. Flew away immediately when the cage was opened; only had a second to snap his portrait.

The other day, I was on our deck--"the launch pad"--when a handsome large swallow tail zoomed into the yard, up to the deck and circled me twice before flapping away. Like, "Happy Mother's Day"!

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