Swallowtail butterfly captivates, comforts Kamloops resident | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Swallowtail butterfly captivates, comforts Kamloops resident

Kamloops resident Miranda Leech with a butterfly.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Miranda Leech

A Kamloops resident got a surprise when a swallowtail butterfly hatched in her home.

Miranda Leech said she was standing in the kitchen when the insect emerged from under the fridge wobbling with wet wings on Jan. 30.

“I bought this fridge second hand, someone used it just for a wedding in the summertime,” she said. “I think I picked it up in October so I'm guessing a butterfly may have stashed her egg in there over the winter. It came out of the fridge freshly hatched, it was pretty cool.”

Leech picked the butterfly up and put it in a mesh enclosure where she has been keeping it and feeding it for over two weeks.

She calls the butterfly Tiger Lily and has a special connection to it as it hatched a couple of months after her year-long battle with breast cancer came to an end.

“It was a beautiful symbol of hope that came into our house,” Leech said. “It has not been the easiest year with cancer and other family challenges. People have been sending me what butterflies represent. They are a symbol of transformation, strength and perseverance.” 

A butterfly on Kamloops resident Miranda Leech.
A butterfly on Kamloops resident Miranda Leech.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Miranda Leech

The butterfly feeds on muddy water, fresh parsley and carrot top greens. Leech puts fruit slices into the mud to provide sugars.

“I take her out a couple of times every day to fly in the living room,” she said. “Life expectancy is a few weeks and she is still flying around.”

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Leech is reaching out to tattoo artists to design a piece with a butterfly and cancer ribbon in remembrance of both life experiences. She plans to preserve the butterfly when it dies.

—This story was corrected at 10:10 a.m. Feb. 19 because the butterfly was originally misidentified as a monarch.


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