Ann, I would take that Redbud statement with a big grain of salt. I have never heard of the Spicebush Swallowtail using anything outside the Laurel family. I did a quick Google search and one zoo site listed Redbud as a host, but I'm afraid they may be getting confused and actually mean Redbay, which is a host for the Spicebush Swallowtail.
As for the museum, the kids I can usually deal with but the adults who act stupid really get to me. I've been telling my trainees to be very careful what they do in front of the guests because people will think it's okay to do what we do even though we are trained professionals. For example, I rarely release butterflies when guests are around. Sometimes the butterfly isn't completely dry so I have to transfer it from my finger and then onto a plant. But people see me do this and think they can try it with the other butterflies. This is especially true with kids - they want to do everything they see someone else do. I even told them to be careful how they word things. Because I get the question a lot, "Will you kill a butterfly if you touch it?" And I tell people no, but you will probably rub the scales off its wings and if you don't know your own strength you could easily damage it. I've told people if they must touch a butterfly (like if it's in a spider web) to try to let the legs climb on you, but avoid the wings. Well, two weeks ago I walked in the flight cage to see a grown woman (50's maybe?) holding a butterfly on her finger. I immediately told her guests are not allowed to touch the butterflies and she told me how she was there last week and a volunteer told her you could touch the legs, just not the wings. And I flat-out told her I hoped she didn't remember that person's name because I would chew them out myself. But then I thought about it and I thought maybe she just misinterpreted what a volunteer was trying to tell her. But let me tell you, my blood pressure shot up! I was so mad!
I haven't really been to other butterfly exhibits but from what I've heard some encourage you to feed the butterflies (I did this once in a butterfly tent using Q-Tips soaked in Gatorade) and some have butterflies that will naturally land on people. Some of my museum friends were even angry at the picture of Prince William with the butterfly on his hand and little George reaching for it! I try to remember that MOSI's mission statement is, "Making science real." And that means I'm not going to lie to people and tell them butterflies will magically land on them. I'm going to explain why a butterfly probably won't land on them, why they shouldn't touch a butterfly, and make them understand these are insects with natural instincts to avoid us! I also lecture on native plants and taking care of the environment because we exclusively raise Florida butterflies. Most butterfly exhibits purchase their butterflies and feature the more showy, tropical species. Which is visually pleasing, but how much do you learn from that?
I impressed upon my trainees that there are two primary functions in this job - taking care of the butterflies and taking care of the caterpillars. There's a reason the butterfly volunteers aren't part of the general volunteer group at MOSI. It requires a lot of specialized knowledge. My loyalty is to the living creatures I raise and while I try to be nice to all the guests, I'm going to protect the butterflies even if it means hurting someone's feelings. MOSI started charging for parking a few years back which I kind of disagreed with, but it has helped the gardens tremendously! We used to have people come park and just hang outside the butterfly garden like it was a playground or a park (but they would never go inside the museum where you have to pay). I had one mom letting her children run around with little butterfly nets trying to catch them. I asked her to have them stop, but her attitude was, "They're not really going to catch one." And I thought, "No, they're going to hit one with a net and kill it and you'll have to explain to them what they did." One child actually came really close, too. So as much as I hate the parking fee, I have benefited from it. People often stop in the butterfly exhibit before going into the building to pay and get the MOSI stickers (so we know they paid). As long as you're not being a jerk, I will never say anything if you don't have a sticker. I generally don't even notice them. But believe me, I've had no problems telling guests they need to go in and get their stickers before they can visit the exhibit. Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don't. I've told the other volunteers to use that trick if they ever have a jerk without a sticker on.
But like I said, 90% of the people are fine and don't give me problems. And part of the reason I started taking caterpillars into the flight cage was simply so the guests would have something they could touch. It distracts the kids, too. People have this weird need to touch things. I mean, every week I'm impressed just to be able to get so close to a butterfly but people feel this need to touch them. Why? If you stand really still in your yard do you think a butterfly will land on you? So why do you do it in my flight cage? Animal behavior doesn't usually vary that much in captivity.
And now after this diatribe, I get to wake up and go deal with these people! But we have a 50-60% chance of rain tomorrow so it may be a short day. Thanks for listening, folks!
