Posted: Oct 06, 2015 1:37 pm
Once, when I was about eight years old, a friend and I collected a number of Monarch caterpillars and kept them in a terrarium. We kept them clean and watered, and made sure they always had fresh milkweed leaves to chew on. They had a really good survival rate- nearly all of them pupated and almost all of the pupae hatched on pretty much the same morning.
So, that morning my friend and I were releasing Monarch butterflies. At least ten or fifteen of the beautiful things. They were resting on our fingers and our clothing as they pumped fluids into their wings and then they'd fly away. It was one of the most awesome things I did in my young life.
Meanwhile, one of the neighborhood girls, that very same morning, had industriously set about catching as many Monarch butterflies as she could. When I found her, she was crushing them under a rock. She remains to this day the only person I've ever struck in anger. I was in a rage, with tears running down my young face. I just couldn't understand how someone could be so senselessly and emotionlessly destructive to my beautiful butterflies, which I had raised from caterpillars.
I feel this can link back to internet trolls, somehow.... Fuckin' about with Sagan's beautiful words.
Also, USAians in this thread, please consider planting native milkweeds in your yards. Let's continue enjoying some Monarch butterflies on this Pale Blue Dot.
So, that morning my friend and I were releasing Monarch butterflies. At least ten or fifteen of the beautiful things. They were resting on our fingers and our clothing as they pumped fluids into their wings and then they'd fly away. It was one of the most awesome things I did in my young life.
Meanwhile, one of the neighborhood girls, that very same morning, had industriously set about catching as many Monarch butterflies as she could. When I found her, she was crushing them under a rock. She remains to this day the only person I've ever struck in anger. I was in a rage, with tears running down my young face. I just couldn't understand how someone could be so senselessly and emotionlessly destructive to my beautiful butterflies, which I had raised from caterpillars.
I feel this can link back to internet trolls, somehow.... Fuckin' about with Sagan's beautiful words.
Also, USAians in this thread, please consider planting native milkweeds in your yards. Let's continue enjoying some Monarch butterflies on this Pale Blue Dot.