Oh yes you will snurfle: Adirondack couple saves monarch butterfly

[MorningGlow]

Couple mends butterfly's wing, gets trucker to drive it to Florida

LAKE LUZERNE (AP) - A southern Adirondack couple used their skill at handicrafts, their homemade honey and their gumption to mend a monarch butterfly's wing, nurse it back to health and find it a ride to a warmer climate.

Jeannette Brandt spied the butterfly about three weeks ago when, out for a bike ride in rural Hadley, she pulled over on the shoulder to take off her coat. Noticing the butterfly's broken wing, she poured out her water bottle and placed the butterfly inside it.

At home, she and her longtime partner, Mike Parwana, began nursing the butterfly, feeding it rotting pears and honey mixed with water. The pears came from a tree on their property. The honey came from the bees they keep.

As the butterfly strengthened, they wondered whether they could fix its wing. They turned to the Internet, searching under "fixing a broken butterfly wing," and found a video posted by the Live Monarch Foundation, a nonprofit group from Boca Raton, Fla.

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/503631.html?nav=5047

If you're not snuffling into a kleenex by the time you're finished with this article, check your chest cavity--your heart might have gone AWOL.

[TlalocW]

1. What the story doesn't tell you is

The butterfly was a convicted murderer and had escaped butterfly justice by heading north.

Actually, that was a nice story.

TlalocW

[lukasahero]

2. Awww, that's pretty sweet. eom

[JitterbugPerfume]

3. nice story

I didn't see many monarchs on my property last year . I have plenty of milk weeed for them , but they were really scarce. There weren't many dragonflies either ;(

[FreepFryer]

4. Great story - Ive saved lots of Monarchs from drowning in the sea on their migration

They get blown into the ocean by the strong winds, and the lucky ones wash back up on the shore, all but drowned. I've held a few of them int he sun for up to an hour as they dry their wings, regain their strength and resume their marathon.

Now I know how to repair their wings too! :)

Thanks for this.

[surrealAmerican]

5. Interesting. I had no idea it was possible to mend ...

... a butterfly wing.

[GardeningGal]

6. Good story, now I have to go find my box of kleenex. n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Did anybody tell them they only live a few months?

[Cults4Bush]

8. I almost tinkled at the pic....

lol... The Monarch would approve me thinks.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

9. Henchmen 21 and 24 will never die!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. I take it you didn't see the season finale.

They had that unique mix of expendability and invulnerability.

Alas...

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

11. Ain't no big thang. Any show that had a whole roomful of Dean and Hank clones

will find a way to bring back 24.

I mean, it was just his head.

;)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

13. And then there was Venturestein.

Pwastitoots!

[seemslikeadream]

17. Butterflies get a lot of living done in a few months

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. So do cockroaches.

[seemslikeadream]

20. Butterflies see much more of the world than cockroachs do

[leftchick]

12. What a wonderful story

I had a Swallowtail in my garden with a broken wing last year and just cried over its death. I had no idea they could be fixed! Thank you so much for this story.

:)

[progressoid]

14. Apparently I have no heart. But I did like this comment from a reader:

"I once stapled my cats tail back on when I was 7." :)

[alphafemale]

22. Is there such a thing as an Honorary DUZY?

That comment was hilarious.

[seemslikeadream]

15. BUTTERFLIES

[roguevalley]

16. I love them. thank you for this wonderful story. whatever you do for

the least among you, you do also for me.

[MattBaggins]

19. This is getting me motivated

Next time it rains at work, I am going to try and give mouth to mouth to all the drowning worms in the parking lot.

[Pastiche423]

21. Be careful

If you blow too hard, you'll end up w/worm ballons. And when they pop, thousands of tiny, dead worm parts will rain (reign?) upon the earth.

Moreover, remember - blow, don't suck!

[earth mom]

23. I just love this story!

:cry:

[fortyfeetunder]

24. This is a cool story

One of my favorite childhood books was about the monarch migration and this is a heartwarming story. Now I know it's possible to mend a butterfly's wing!