Butterflies are beautiful things. They flutter peacefully all round the garden and I enjoy simply having them around. I can’t identify the different types and struggle even between a butterfly and a moth, but that is the extent of my appreciation. Shadow sees things differently. She doesn’t think that looking at them is enough. She watches them flit down towards her nose and then starts to chase them. She doesn’t just chase them with the intention of seeing them more closely. She tries to catch them and sadly eat them. I am therefore appealing to all butterflies, especially the rarer ones, to stay away from our garden in the interest of their own safety. Of course I shall be sad not to be able to look at them, but at least they will still be there for the next person to look at. Whilst I don’t particularly like looking at bees, I make the same appeal to them as well. Our garden is not a safe place for things that fly and don’t always move as fast as Shadow.
The above advice to flying things should also be addressed to golden eagles. Now whilst I don’t think for a minute that Shadow would catch one, we have just received a postcard with one on and the look very scary. They do look majestic as well as scary, but most of all they look scary and I am in no hurry to meet one. My Mistress says it is very unlikely round here but that we might see one when we go on holiday. I am only prepared to look at them from a distance through binoculars. If they are close enough to see with the naked eye then they are probably closer than I want to get.