Butterfly Exhibit Opens at Zoo

By J. Gelband, 6-04-07

What’s happier than a room full of kittens, rainbows and candy? A room full of butterflies, because there are no calories.

No, you don’t eat them. Well, you aren’t supposed to. You just play with them.

Last weekend, Zoo Boise opened their greenhouse for the Butterflies in Bloom exhibit, and now the Julia Davis Park zoo is aflutter with bright colors and flapping little wings. The exhibit opened June 1 and lasts through September 3.

The greenhouse is stocked with hundreds of rare butterflies that float and wave freely throughout the exhibit as visitors pass through. Visitors can act as rest stops for the bugs as they travel back and forth through the large conservatory that’s also filled with flowers, plants and bushes.

Admission to get into the zoo is $6 for adults, $3.25 for kids age 4-11, $4 for seniors, and it’s free for kids younger than 3. Friends of Zoo Boise members are admitted free with current pass and photo identification.

It’s a fun summer notion to be surrounded by butterflies and to let one rest on your shoulder, but also, if you have no air conditioning, stop in and see if all those fluttering butterflies’ tiny wings have the fan power to cool you off.