Monday, November 12, 2007

Butterfly Palace



During a trip to Branson, MO, this past weekend, we decided to visit the Butterfly Palace. White butterflies with black markings, like the two on the right, are the featured attraction right now. These butterflies can be viewed during the facility's "White Flight" event, November 1 to January 15. There are many other varieties of butterflies as well...all of them beautiful.

During "White Flight" the poinsettia decorations provide the perfect setting for the black and white butterflies. There are feeding stations throughout, too, that make for great photo opportunities.

We were excited to be available during a butterfly release. Each of us was given a clear, plastic Solo cup containing a little yellow butterfly. We tapped the cup until the butterfly took flight.

Folks who want to take the time can view a butterfly emerge from a crysalis in the windowed nursery. A time-lapse version is also shown in a 3-D movie, one of the features of the "White Flight" adventure. The movie follows the life cycle of a butterfly, and a preying mantis. At one point in the movie, it looks like dozens of tiny yellow butterflies are flitting about inside the theater.

For those who can abide them, there are not-so-appealing critters in the Rainforest Critter Center. My least favorite were the huge cockroaches. The chameleon was okay, though.

We finished our tour with a walk through the Emerald Forest Mirror Maze. We're not as brave as my hubby, so Mother and I held hands, while I felt my way along the mirrors to the exit.

3 comments:

Sheila said...

I live in the Springfield area and had seen the billboards for this exhibit. Intending to blog about the exhibit, it's fun to see someone who's actually been there.

Sixty Something said...

Thanks for commenting. The Butterfly Palace is definitely a place to take a camera. I wish I'd had time to linger longer and get more shots of these beautiful creatures. The exhibit also includes what are called Button Quail...they are small birds that, as I understand it, get there name because they are "cute as a button." They are also known as Chinese Painted Quail. They are very fast, and skittered away before I could get a good shot of one.

Sixty Something said...

Oops...when I mentioned how the Button Quail were named, I said "there name" when I meant "their name." Tripped over my English that time.