I was cleaning up after having done some tree-trimming, when I happened to notice this butterfly clinging to a leaf laying on the driveway.
(I don't know butterflies, but I did some on-line research, and I think this is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail)
Even when I got in close and stuck a camera in its face (okay, the thing that serves as a "face" for a butterfly), it didn't even twitch.
I guessed that it had been injured by the big lummox who had been chopping off branches and throwing them to the ground.
Then the cat approached.
It looked as if it might end badly -- but then she walked right by, oblivious. If something doesn't move, it's usually not interesting to her.
I clumsily tried to move the butterfly from the torn leaf it was clinging to, onto a purple coneflower in a nearby flower box. It resisted being dislodged from its perch. After more efforts, which undoubtedly seemed like brutality to the bug, it finally made the jump and perched on the flower.
And there it sat, still unmoving, apart from the occasional flap. I had chores yet to do, and went off to do them.
Later, I checked back, and the butterfly was gone. Taken by another creature, or left on its own power? Uncertain, like life.
