Butterfly gardens are the worst
I generally like to think of myself as a pretty easy-going person. There is not much in this world that I despise enough to use the word “hate,” but I hate butterfly gardens with a burning passion. And guess what? You should too. They are actually the worst.
If you found a bug in your house, most rational people would do one of two things: either kill it or bring it outside. So, tell me why there are people paying actual real legal government money to go inside of a hot, humid room full of bugs that have free reign over the entire space?!
I am going to assume that you, as a person of culture, are familiar with the colloquial phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Then explain to me why we are giving butterflies special treatment because they look pretty? No one in their right mind would willingly walk into a room filled with ants, slugs, or spiders. I am sure the other species of insects and arachnids are offended that while we put butterflies up on some obscure pedestal, yet treat every other species like, well, bugs.
Another reason why butterfly gardens suck is because they discourage discovery. For a lot of people, walks outside in nature can be a relaxing and therapeutic experience. It is exciting to happen across an animal in nature. By caging these butterflies and putting them in these horrid bug houses, we are essentially making the beauty of nature so much less special. Now, you may be thinking, “what about zoos, then?” Well, zoos are unique because they give people an opportunity to see animals they would not normally see in their everyday lives. I do not know about you, but I have never been on my way to class and seen a zebra. What is great about butterflies is that they can (and do) live everywhere, except for Antarctica. So hypothetically, if someone who lives in Antarctica wants to appreciate butterflies with the wife and kids on a nice Sunday afternoon, they should be able to take them to the local Antarctican butterfly garden. So for my argument, it is a good thing that Antarctica’s permanent population is zero.
Most butterfly gardens have bugs besides butterflies in them as well; however, only the butterflies are advertised. My theory is that this is because they know that no one wants to go into a room that says “bug house” or “butterfly, fruit fly, moth, and beetle house,” so they falsely advertise only the pretty insects. If I wanted to see all those bugs (which I most certainly do not), I would go outside.
Butterfly gardens are glorified bug cages, and I feel they are detrimental to the beauty inherent in nature and discovery—and remember that there are bugs that aren’t even butterflies!