Seventeen monarch butterflies are on their way to Mexico for the winter. These creatures were raised right here in Lansing.
Jenny Mensch is a program manager at the Fenner Nature Center. She taught a group of visitors how to gently hold a butterfly with their thumb and index finger.
On Saturday, they transferred the orange winged, 6 legged insects from a small wooden observation house to a nearby garden.
Mensch explained why the nature center takes a hands-on approach to education.
She said, “When you allow people to touch, when you allow people to interact, they really develop that sense of love and ownership over our earth."
The center even allows kids to participate at events like these. However, they advise against handling butterflies without being properly trained.