Animal Friends: Butterflies Resting On and Playing With Animals

This week on January 5th, it's National Western Monarch Butterfly day! This is a day to raise awareness of this beautiful but endangered butterfly. Their habitat is west of the Rocky Mountains in the USA, and their population has been going down for a few years. In California, there's an effort to bring them back by planting tons of milkweed plants, which monarch caterpillars rely on--plus, the little bit of poison in the plants gives monarch those special orange and black colors! Talk about a glow-up.

Anyway, for our part, we're celebrating butterflies by bringing you a healthy dose of peaceful animals who've been visited by the little flying creatures! And from the photos, we're not the only ones who are mesmerized by a close-up visit from a pretty butterfly. It's a magical experience for our animal friends too! See for yourself…

01
Butterflies Drink Crocodile Tears

via Scibabe

According to Scibabe, one type of symbiosis is…this. Why, you ask? Well, in the Amazon, there's not much salt to be found, so bugs and little animals have to get creative. And it turns out, crocodile tears are one place to get it! It doesn't seem to really help out the crocodiles, but they don't really mind either. Who wouldn't want pretty little flappy boys hanging out with them all day?
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02
Sharing a Snack

via Pinterest

What do you do when you're too small to finish your fruit? You let your butterfly friend have a lick, of course! This bat and butterfly like the same food, so they're sharing a snack that would be too big for just one of them. Too sweet doesn't begin to cover it!
03
Butterfly Hair Piece

via u/melondio

A great way to show off your butterfly friends is by pretending they're jewelry! This fluffy boi gets a little confused by the butterfly who just loves his fur, but before that he gives us some signature butterfly realness with a serious smolder befitting any model.
04
Big and Tiny Friends

via Iwastesomuchtime

The king of the jungle meets the tiniest creature in it. But lions, even though they're fierce, are still cats! That means this big, sharp-toothed boy is still fascinated by his little visitor.
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05
Tiny and Tinier Friends

via Pinterest
06
Resting on Pup Snoot

via u/harleykills
07
Monarch Meets Kitty

via Pinterest
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08
Butterfly Crown

via u/pardusco
09
Kissing the Frog

via u/rodolfosudios
10
Rolling in Flutterbys

via Pinterest
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11
Fall Day Friends

via u/sweetlife8019
12
Monarch and Snoot

via u/barndar7