Massachusetts Spot Offers the Chance to Walk Among the Butterflies

The beautiful transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. Chasing a monarch around you yard with a net in hand. Feeling lucky when a fluttering friend lands on you.

Butterflies have a magic about them, but now more than ever we need to protect them.

A new study found that butterfly populations have dropped by 22 percent across the United States. The drop is deemed "concerning" by the study.

"If we can get people to care about butterflies, they start to care about the environment that supports them and want to do something to save it," said Alana Archangelo, Insect Curator and Manager at The Butterfly Place.

"Helping butterflies has a ripple effect of helping out other insects and pollinators, which support the rest of the ecosystem," she said.

The Butterfly Place is a family-owned indoor butterfly garden that opened in 1990 in Westford, Massachusetts.

Once inside, you can walk along the brick paths as butterflies fly freely around you.

"The garden also features a beautiful koi fish pond with a waterfall, freely-flying finches, and a group of button quail, chubby little ground birds who wander about the garden," Archangelo said.

"There is an observation room where several species of caterpillars are featured, as well as poison dart frogs, giant beetles, and tropical walking sticks that are so unusual looking, they blow people's minds," she added.

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Guests light up when they're surrounded by the winged creatures.

"It's a look of awe when they first experience the big blue morpho butterflies flying through the air," Archangelo said. "By the end of the visit folks are often feeling relaxed after spending time in the garden."

If you want to take a piece of the experience home with you, visit their gift shop for a variety of souvenirs and trinkets including hatching kits to watch your own butterfly grow and release at home.