As part two of our most recent trip to Seattle, I present you with our little drop-in to the Tropical Butterfly House inside the Pacific Science Center.  I just adore butterfly houses!  They feel so magical to me.  Our local zoo has a butterfly greenhouse at a specific time of year, so it is hard to get there at the right time.  On our first trip to the Pacific Science Center last year, we only hit up the Spy Exhibit.  I had no idea they had a butterfly house.  So in planning our most recent trip, I made sure to make time to venture over to the permanent exhibit.



It was a lovely (and very warm) day in Seattle when we were out.  After the Pompeii Exhibit, we walked around taking photos, hydrated with some bottled water, and walked through the science exhibits and insect exhibits towards the Tropical Butterfly House.

The 4,000 square foot Butterfly House opened its doors in December of 1998.  The enclosed space is kept at a temperature in the low 80s, with 60 to 70 percent humidity.  An employee of the Science Center warns you of this before you enter, just in case you are extremely against this kind of environment.  It is pretty muggy inside.  I'm not a huge fan of that climate myself, but I stayed as long as I possibly could because being surrounded by butterflies is really cool. They maintain a population of 800 to 1200 butterflies of over 100 different species.  About 500 butterflies are imported weekly from South and Central America, Africa, and Asia.  Along with all those butterflies is an array of tropical plants that thrive in the temperatures and provide nectar to the butterflies.

Visiting the Tropical Butterfly House is free once you've paid for admission into the Pacific Science Center.  Sean and I took our time looking around, taking a ton of photos, and just sitting still to see if a butterfly would land on us.  You have to walk very slowly and constantly look around to make sure you don't accidentally step on or touch a butterfly.



Once we started sweating and getting too warm, we sat along the brick to see if a butterfly would visit.  As usual, they loved Sean!  Other people in the Butterfly House started taking photos of him with his butterfly friend.  I even found a tiny friend of my own.


After leaving the butterflies, we meandered around the insect and reptile area.  There is a huge colony of naked mole rats in this area of the science center.  Watching them run through their tubes, go up their elevator systems, and carry items back and forth was a lot of fun!  I highly recommend it!  Back outside, we took more photos and cooled down in the breeze before heading off to our next exhibit.


Next week, I will show you the Star Wars exhibit from the EMP museum. Until then....