Today I visited “Butterflies of Cape Cod”. This is a small butterfly walkthrough experience right by the Cape Cod Canal in Bourne, Massachusetts.
The place consists of a 1200 square-foot butterfly habitat, plus a small pollinator garden and a building with a nice gift shop. The only animals at this place are native butterflies, and they reproduce here and live out their entire life cycles in the exhibit. You can see the animals in butterfly form, and there are also live caterpillars, chrysalises, and eggs. This place also closes in the winter, at which point some of the butterflies hibernate, and others are released to migrate south (since they are native).
The people who work here were also really nice, and I spent half an hour talking to one of them inside the walkthrough. I usually skip butterfly walkthroughs at traditional zoos, so going to a place that was only a butterfly walkthrough was an interesting change of pace.
Today the following species were on display:
The place consists of a 1200 square-foot butterfly habitat, plus a small pollinator garden and a building with a nice gift shop. The only animals at this place are native butterflies, and they reproduce here and live out their entire life cycles in the exhibit. You can see the animals in butterfly form, and there are also live caterpillars, chrysalises, and eggs. This place also closes in the winter, at which point some of the butterflies hibernate, and others are released to migrate south (since they are native).
The people who work here were also really nice, and I spent half an hour talking to one of them inside the walkthrough. I usually skip butterfly walkthroughs at traditional zoos, so going to a place that was only a butterfly walkthrough was an interesting change of pace.
Today the following species were on display:
- Monarch
- Giant Swallowtail
- Pipevine Swallowtail
- Spicebush Swallowtail
- Eastern Black Swallowtail
- Cabbage White
- Red Admiral
- Mourning Cloak
- Painted Lady (painted lady caterpillars were also available for sale in the gift shop, as pets)
- Zebra Swallowtail
- Question Mark
- Comma
- Great Spangled Fritillary
- Tiger Swallowtail
- Common Buckeye
- Pearl Crescent
- Red Spotted Purple
- Variegated Fritillary
