How to Attract and Raise Butterflies at Home

Even if you don’t love bugs, you probably love butterflies! These winged beauties are important pollinators, like bees and hummingbirds, and there’s nothing sweeter than watching them flutter around your garden on a summer morning, sipping from flowers or sunning themselves on rocks. These beautiful insects actually are covered with tiny overlapping scales, like the shingles on a roof. With more than 700 species native to North America, you’ll see many different types in your own back yard, especially if you plant flowers that attract butterflies. Each region of the country has at least 100 species found locally. You even can buy butterfly kits to raise them yourself. Watching these creatures grow can be an educational (and fun!) experiment for the whole family.

To read more on this story, click here: How to Attract and Raise Butterflies at Home

Appalachian Wildlife Refuge: Please Donate Your Old Mascara Wands to Help Injured Animals

The Appalachian Wildlife Refuge would like to help you clean out your make-up case.

The volunteer run organization is asking people to send them their used mascara wands instead of throwing them away.

The wands are used to help remove fly eggs and larva from animals that are injured or orphaned.

According the wildlife refuge's website, the wands are perfect because their bristles are close together.

People are asked to send in their "Wands for Wildlife" and to host "Wandraisers."

Before you send in your used brushes, they will need to be cleaned. You can do that by soaking them in soapy water and removing all the residual mascara.

After the wands have been washed, you will need to fill out a Wands for Wildlife form. That can be found on the refuge's website.

All donations must be mailed to P.O. Box 1211, Skyland, NC 28776.

If you do not have any used mascara wands but wish to help, the refuge asks that you DO NOT buy new wands, but instead buy food or supplies from their wishlist , or make a monetary donation.