Family finds cold stunned butterfly in their yard, take it to wildlife hospital

A mother and her two daughters found a Gulf fritillary butterfly in their yard; the ground was wet and cold. They picked up the butterfly thinking it was dead and were surprised to see it was still alive. Not knowing what to do, the mother and daughters contained the butterfly in a plastic bin and brought it to the hospital for help.

The butterfly looked in good condition when admitted. The wings were intact and no other damage was noted. Hospital staff believed the butterfly was cold stunned since the temperature outdoors was in the low 40’s. The butterfly was placed in a small tent container inside an animal intensive care unit to warm. Within a few minutes of being indoors the butterfly was moving around and perched at the top of the tent.

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The butterfly was active the following morning. Staff offered the butterfly some nectar but it was hard to tell if any was actually ingested. The temperature outside had returned to normal so hospital staff released the fritillary in the butterfly garden at the Conservancy.

Butterfly admissions are rare at the wildlife hospital. It was very kind of the mother and her daughters to take the time to help the butterfly. All life matters and we were happy to do what we could to help.

Joanna Fitzgerald is director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital