Mainers Give Some Monarch Butterflies A Ride South For The Winter

Some really awesome folks have done one of the most heartwarming things I've heard about in a long time. Brittany Cooper of Hope, noticed a late season monarch butterfly chrysalis under the leaf of a plant at work.

Now, be real, if that was you or me, we'd probably just be kinda grossed out that an unhatched bug was living in our house, or at our work. But Cooper knew exactly what was inside, and started to feel kinda bad about it., according to a statement she made to the Bangor Daily News.

It had been so long, we thought she was not going to make it. We hoped that she would just be able to hatch and fly on her own. But it got later and later and colder and colder. I felt bad and decided to bring her in to give her more of a chance.

Cooper managed to keep the chrysalis in good shape, and soon enough, the monarch emerged. She figured out an ingenious way to feed it, by placing cantaloupe juice on a sponge that the butterfly could sip from.

But obviously, it was way too late in the season to just send the fragile creature outside, so Cooper began looking online to see if there were any way she could literally find a ride south for the butterfly.

As she began to post on social media about it, she was surprised to receive a lot of interest not only from folks who wanted to help out, but also from people who had brought in butterflies of their own. And soon, there were several butterflies being packed up for travel.

Transportation was arranged through all the social media interaction, and before long, all the butterflies had reached warmer climates, and were released into the wild. Everyone involved reported that all the monarchs were healthy and strong, and took to the air immediately.

I have to say, you hear about folks coming together sometimes, especially when it's a good cause, or lending a helping hand when no one else would, and it restores your faith in humanity a bit. Knowing folks like Brittany are out there makes the day seem a little brighter.