[tomato] While my tomatoes are growing.....I went to butterfly world
Orchid (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:10:54 -0500
Yesterday I took my family to Butterfly World in Coconut Creek, Florida.
They have a huge aviary filled with thousands of beautiful butterflies of
the world. They recreated a rainforest with beautiful exotic plants and
trees, and it even "rains" every once in awhile like in a real rainforest.
The butterflies are used to seeing people and very often land on someone's
head or shoulder to rest. There are waterfalls and even hummingbirds! I
saw a few hummingbirds while visiting Texas, but not so close that I could
see all the beautiful shimmering colors. They are certainly graceful and
fly like little helicopters. They have many benches to sit on so you can
relax and reflect upon the beauty.
To me, the highlight of the day for myself and my children was the Lories &
Lorikeet exhibit. You go into a caged area, and dozens of Lories &
Lorikeets are flying around and playing with each other. Lories are very
friendly with people and they too will land on your head or arms. They're
little beggars because for a buck you can buy a small ounce of nectar and
the birds will land all over you to drink from your cup. It is quite a
thrill to see these friendly beautiful birds land and crawl all over you.
My son, who just turned 4 had a thrill as the birds landed on his head and
arms. I videotaped the whole thing and now we have terrific memories. The
Lories and Lorikeets are similar except for size. Lories like parrots, and
Lorikeets smaller, but bigger than parakeets. They are so cute...like
little puppies. They wrestle with each other on the ground. One will get
on its back while the other one tries to pin him down. Such personality!
MAKES ME WANT TO GO RIGHT OUT AND BUY SOME! I understand that they go for
around $350 each, at least that's what the caretaker said. Because of their
personality, it would seem to me that you should buy at least two so they
can play with each other.
The caretaker said to build an enclosure that will keep out snakes, rats &
raccoons. Anybody out there have any experience with them? After going to
Butterfly World, you wish you could put an aviary net around your whole
property and raise your own butterflies & hummingbirds, and protect them
from predators. AAAHHH WELLLLL! .........I can always dream......can't
I?
Peter, Zone 10, South Florida
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