Butterfly on My Hand

Yes, it IS October and this is a real, alive, Tiger Swallowtail butterfly on my hand.

It came out of its chrysalis on Sunday, and on Monday I tried to release it. When I first opened the jar, since it was attached to the tissue on the top of the jar it moved itself to my hand, and stayed there for around 20 minutes while I waited for DB's school bus.

Then it continued to stay there while I walked into the street, met DB at the bus, and we walked back to the sidewalk! (I was sheltering it from the wind as best I could.)

Finally I gently moved him onto a flower and we went upstairs. By now I'd personified him and decided he was cold, so I felt a little bad. Especially because I swear he waved a front leg at me in goodbye.

About 15 minutes later I went to check on him. He hadn't moved, and in fact looked like he was clinging to the tiny flower petal for dear life. So I picked the flower and placed flower and insect in the bowl I'd brought with me (just in case he was still there).

It wasn't until Tuesday mid-morning when he began to flutter madly around his big bowl -- during a patch of bright sunshine -- so I released him in the house. He fluttered to the white kitchen curtain, and I opened the window, where he soon flew out. Of course, that was right AFTER I'd spent an hour Googling what to feed him, how long he'd live, and what kind of habitat to keep him in.

Bye, little friend!

He is Number 3 of 4 chrysalises a friend of Grandma's gave us. Butterflies Number 1 and 2 flew right off once they emerged from their jar. (They did wait to be in sunshine to come out, even though they'd been out of the chrysalis for hours and so I presumed their wings were dry.)

It's been cool for DB to look at them up close. "I can see the proboscis" he says -- at least, that's what I think he's saying since he can't quote pronounce "proboscis."