Vince_Condella's Blog

Here's a story about good karma being passed along to one of nature's most frail creatures.  A few weeks ago a woman riding her bicycle in a rural community in New York state spotted an injured Monarch butterfly.  It looked like it had a broken wing.  You may recall me writing about the amazing migration of the Monarchs, who travel from northern latitudes all the way to the mountains of Mexico to escape the cold of winter.  How these little insects make it all the way to their destination is quite stunning, but doing it with a broken wing would be impossible.

A broken wing on a Monarch butterfly, similar to the one found by a rural New York state woman.

The woman, Jeannette Brandt, transported the butterfly home in her empty water bottle, then fed it rotting pears and a water/honey mix.  The food sustained the little guy.  Now, how does she fix the wing?  She and her partner, Mike Parwana, found an internet video posted by Live Monarch Foundation, a non-profit group from Boca Raton, Florida, instructing people on how to fix broken butterfly wings.  The couple fashioned a tiny splint made from cardboard and attached it to the wing using contact cement.  The wing healed.

Jeannette and Mike took the butterfly in a box to the nearest truck stop asking if any truckers would transport the Monarch south.  Sure enough, a trucker from Alabama would be driving through Florida and volunteered to take it with him.  Earlier this week he called the couple and told them the Monarch was released in Florida and hopefully on its way to a successful migration.

That's my feelgood story for the weekend.  Stay warm. :)