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Today Bill had to go out to Gillette for a high school clinic, so I decided that I’d take a visit to the butterfly conservatory in Deerfield, Massachusetts to see what kind of photos I could get with my Canon 30D. It was an inspirational and beautiful day that I’m glad I can share with my readers.

This little critter would be poisonous in the wild because it would (much like the monarch butterfly caterpillar) eat leaves that would make it secrete a poison through its skin to deter predators. In captivity, though it’s perfectly harmless and the colors mean beauty instead of danger.

Bearded Dragon baby born 5-2-14

These babies were so cute that I almost brought one home with me – their mother has had two clutches this year so far, and they’re almost overrun with babies, so they’re adopting them out to good homes. Sadly I don’t have enough room for a terrarium and a heat lamp or I’d have one.

Giant Flower Beetle

These bugs are from western Africa and as far as I’m concerned, they can stay there. They do kind of look like an oversized Japanese beetle though.

Moving on from reptiles, bugs and assorted weird things, I entered the conservatory.

Cocoons hatching – or whatever it is you call it when a butterfly emerges

The coolest thing about the wall of cocoons is that you can watch butterflies emerge almost constantly. These two male Cairns Birdwings emerged after I’d been walking around for about ten minutes. The butterflies hang on to the cocoons for a while so their wings dry, and then it’s up, up and away!

Two blue morphos having a lunch break

These are two blue morphos. They are covered in fake eyespots to deter predators and the insides of their wings are brilliant blue. This is a sugar water filled sponge which provides all the butterflies their sustenance.

Blue morpho

If this blue morpho hadn’t stopped to take a break, I’d have probably never gotten a picture of its glorious blue wings. They’re very active and just fly non-stop.