"The Butterfly Flutterby" Top 5 Page for this destination Grapevine Local Custom Tip by VeronicaG

Grapevine throws great events such as Main Street Days and Grapefest, so when I read in the newspaper that this town would be having the Butterfly Flutterby fest, I wanted to go.

A red firetruck led the parade down Main street Grapevine with a long line of children, parents and grandparents behind. The rear of the firetruck held a net cage filled with Monarch butterflies meant to be released. I understand that caterpillars are carefully collected and nurtured until they are ready for migration.

This yearly event is meant to celebrate the Monarch butterflies annual migration to Mexico. Each Fall season they travel thousands of miles from eastern and central North America to spend winter. In the Spring, the Monarchs lay their eggs as they travel northward once again and their new offspring finish the trip for them.

Monarchs have large, brown-orange wings with thick black outlines and black veins. The edging of their wings have small white dots. These are mostly found in fields, along roads and feed on milkweed. Their habitat is far-reaching with the exception of the extreme north*.

*This information came from the National Audubon Society's First Field Guide on Insects.