Nature Always Wins: Why I Set My Broken-Winged Butterfly Free

I was surprised it hatched at all. I had my eye on this chrysalis in my butterfly house. A normal chrysalis is a pale green smooth-to-the-touch cocoon with gold dots encircling the top. Out of the 50 butterflies I’ve raised, I’d never seen a chrysalis with black lines through it. I hoped for the best, but deep inside, I felt something was wrong. When the butterfly finally hatched on Saturday, the upper section of its right-wing was inside-out. It had folded in on itself but was still attached to its body. I gazed at the faded colors of the wing’s underside, willing it to right itself. <h2>But there was no fixing it. This monarch would never fly.</h2> I’d never been responsible for a broken-winged butterfly before. I’d started raising butterflies because it was a fun activity to do with my young granddaughter. But she lived too far away to witness the day-in and day-out nurturing that ravenous leaf-eating caterpillars required. They made a mess, too, up until they molted for the last time and created their chrysalises. I never got tired of watching the transformation from egg to butterfly. Caretaking monarchs felt like putting on an old pair of jeans. My kids were adults now, but I considered raising them my most important job. I loved taking care of them. Every phase of their growth was beautiful to witness, and I missed having them under my roof and seeing them every day. <a href="https://medium.com/age-of-empathy/nature-always-wins-why-i-set-my-broken-winged-butterfly-free-6337a3b4959d">Click Here</a>