Butterflies and other flying things ....

My garage is attached to my house, with half of it being a utility room. It's fridge temperatures at the moment, so highly suitable for butterflies hibernating. I do not think any will wake up confused before spring.
Is anyone else a member of Butterfly Conservation?
I do the count every year with my grandkids.

Richard Fox from Butterfly Conservation offers his guide to giving butterflies a successful and safe transition to spring.

It is only the small tortoiseshell and peacock butterfly that regularly overwinter inside houses. They come in during late summer or early autumn, when it is still warm outside and our houses appear to provide suitably cool, sheltered, dry conditions.


However, come Christmas, when the central heating is cranked up, these butterflies may be awoken prematurely by high indoor temperatures. This presents a major problem for the butterfly as the outside weather conditions may be very hostile and there is little nectar available in gardens.


It is also a problem for the concerned householder. How best to help these poor confused butterflies unwittingly tricked into thinking spring has come early? The best solution is to re-house the butterfly in a suitable location.


Catch it carefully, place it in a cardboard box or similar and leave it in a cool place for half an hour or so to see if it will calm down. Once calmed, you might be able to gently encourage the now sleepy butterfly out on to the wall or ceiling of an unheated building such as a shed, porch, garage or outhouse. Just remember that the butterfly will need to be able to escape when it awakens in spring.


If you have no suitable hibernation place, then it would be best to keep the butterfly as cool as possible, to minimise activity, and then to release it outside during a spell of nice weather.

No heating in the downstairs loo so it should be ok. After killing a couple of Peacocks the other year I'm being very careful with this one .

You are right whitewave- if you find butterflies hybernating in the house- pick them up delicately and put them somewhere cool and quite- sending them out will just kill them.

Depends on if you wake it up or not by turning the heating up. If it does wake up, try to cool it down again to lower its metabolism. It tells you how to do this on the butterfly conservation website.

I've got a butterfly hibernating in the downstairs loo. It's been there for quite a while [I assume it's ok ].

Not just in your house but in your garden.

butterfly-conservation.org/3114-7563/christmas-surprises.html

Keep the butterflies in your house. Some hibernate, so if you do not know what sort they are, help them.
www.butterflyconservation.org

I'm in the north west, and found a butterly in a bedroom recently. We still have roses and it's only this past couple of days become anything other than very mild. I was thrilled this morning, to find frost on the grass and cars - must be losing the plot

I have seen butterflies in the garden as recent as middle of last month. Am am still finding ruddy flies in doors

Just a thought you don't think that the butterflies had come in to hibernate? Bit like helping an old lady across the road when she didn't want to go

Blimey - where do you live in Australia?!