One summer day when I was about 8 years old (though I may have been 9) I was outside playing in the early morning hours. I was in front of the neighbors house and noticed an injured butterfly. I must note that the butterfly may not actually have been injured. I pretty much assumed that any creature which allowed me to capture it must be, in some way, ill or incapacitated.
I knelt down and picked up the "injured" butterfly and decided to rescue it. While I was at it I decided that I would go ahead and rescue all of the butterflies. How does one rescue butterflies you might ask?
Well, let me tell you how my 8 (or 9) year old self did it. First I grabbed our wading pool and put it in the garage. Then I filled it with sticks and leaves and flowers. I called it my butterfly hospital. Then I went around the neighborhood in search of patients. I brought all of the butterflies I could catch (not very many) and placed them in the wading pool. I figured they would not fly away because they were injured. My ultimate goal was to nurse them back to health.
Well, this flight of fancy (pun intended, sorry) was pretty short lived. I think the hospital was pretty much empty within a day or two. I don't think that I actually found a single injured butterfly. They all made their escape and ditched out of my hospital.
Image taken from http://www.butterflypictures.net/images/butterfly3.jpg
