Wearing of the green and a word about being nice to nature

Here in Columbus, Ohio at the Franklin Park Conservatory it’s once again time for the annual Blooms & Butterflies event.  It’s a beautiful event that I have attended ever since moving here and I now go visit butterfly exhibits wherever I travel.

This year there were the old favorites, like the Morpho, and some new ones like this Emerald Swallowtail butterfly; I love it when I get to see a species I’ve not seen before.  It’s also when parents bring their little ones to see them which results in things like children crying and screaming from a butterfly fluttering near them to children (and some adults even) reaching out to try and touch a butterfly.

They are extremely fragile creatures and are there to experience not to try and touch no matter how much we seem to instinctively want to.  If they land on you then that’s wonderful; I love it when it happens to me.  If one of the staff (when doing educational programs or on release days) puts one on your finger, then that’s great too.

After taking this photo of a child proudly and ecstatically holding this swallowtail as gently as they were trying to, some time later I saw it sitting motionless on some leaves.  I feared it may have been traumatized from being held for too long; I hoped it was just tired.

It’s wonderful to love nature… just not too much.

Teri  📷