It really made me sad to find a lifeless little Viceroy butterfly on my butterfly bush. I am not sure if he met up with a bird, poisoned plants or poison sprayed on a lawn or what. When I went back outside to check to make sure he was dead or not I had a white spider beginning to eat him...I thought to myself "Not on my Butterfly Bush!" So I carried him to a little statue I had and took his picture to pay tribute....I just couldn't watch it happen and I will give it a decent burial....I used to do this as a kid many years ago and I guess I am just a kid at heart Viceroy Butterfly ( photo / image / picture from Sherry8's Garden )
It's beautiful. I don't know that one but it is very pretty. Very sad to see it be gone. But there will be more........all is good.
Your empathetic feelings for wildlife is a positive thing. Also, I find that little bit of a child in you a charming and very healthy quality. Nice foto of that viceroy.
I have read that if things don't change in our society we will see an end to the butterflys. Just think about what people would be missing if they never got to see any type of butterfly in their lifetime. Maybe if you don't know about them, you wouldn't miss them as much as the people that once saw them and missed seeing them. Just like the information going around about the bees, it could happen with the butterflys. I am seeing less bees and butterflys this year and it really makes you wonder if what they say will be true.
I bury all good critters I find dead in my yard and even parts of birds and squirrels that the Hawk left behind. It just seems like the proper way to show respect for life. With people planting more and more cultivars and hybrids the butterflies have very few host plants for their caterpillars so their numbers are declining. I am converting the plants in my garden to species and very few cultivars because I want more butterflies and also for medicinal use. Also, most butterflies don't live longer than a month so it might have been that one's time to go.
I have mentioned this before that the man that raises I think he said European honey bees had lost 1/2 of his hive last winter because of our cold weather. It was a terrible winter for wildlife. He lives a street behind us and sells honey....I hope this winter isn't as bad as last. Most of our neighbors are spraying their lawns not just for weeds but for bugs. So you kill some mosquitoes that are in the grass at the time, you are also killing good bugs if they are in the area. I could go on and on and if someone wants to spray the lawn they will but then I don't like them telling me they don't like my clover growing in my lawn... what I don't want to happen is having great grandchildren never seeing butterflys or bees,etc. I love nature and I hope that more children will get out and enjoy it while they can....
