A Sort of Rescued Butterfly

by Erika
(Grey Eagle, MN, US)

In 2010 I was running around outside with my dogs, and happened to see an orange flash in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see a monarch sitting on a blade of grass on the side of the road. I checked for cars. There wasn't any. I ran over, grabbed it, and brought it to the house. It was male, and had a gash on the back, probably from a car. He couldn't fly right, so I took care of him. I tried to see how good he could fly. He'd always flutter back to me, and land on my leg. Because of that I named him Flutter. Over night he sat on a milkweed flower. I always had a milkweed blossom in my pocket to feed him. He lived at least a week. Then one morning, I found him dead on the ground. So that's how I started caterpillar raising!