Butterflies have a 'sweet tooth.' Overripe fruit is a feast for these hungry insects
How knowledgeable are you on the old-time fairy tales? Do you know of the fable of Rumpelstiltskin? It is a tale of spinning straw into gold.
Don't try that at home.
It doesn't work.
Nevertheless, there is one other instance of "alchemy" whereby you can actually take something that is worthless and then turn it into something of value. Of what I speak is to make a nifty butterfly feeder out of some old, overripe bananas.
Butterflies have a "sweet tooth." It is easy enough to cater to their needs by mixing some mashed up bananas with some pancake syrup and a dash of baker's yeast. Put this concoction on a plate in some location where the opossums cannot reach it. It will also be a good idea to anchor it in such as way so as it will be immune to the tipsy-turvy influence of Oklahoma's ever-present wind. I like to put a kitchen sponge in the middle of the platter; butterflies like to perch on the sponge and lick the sweet goo out of the sponge's pores.
If you are both stealthy and patient, you can easily approach the feeding butterflies so that you are but mere inches from their beauty and splendor.
Have fun with this DIY nature project.
Neil Garrison was the longtime naturalist at a central Oklahoma nature center. His email is atlatlgarrison@hotmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Overripe bananas can provide butterflies with a sweet treat
