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Here’s What It Sounds Like When a Million Monarch Butterflies Take Flight

Butterflies are one of those things that totally enchant you as a child, and honestly, not much changes as we age. There’s something mysterious and magical about these creatures that begin their lives as wormlike caterpillars and emerge, weeks later, as beautiful butterflies that just captures us – and let’s be honest, it’s not a very subtle metaphor.

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Monarchs are especially near and dear to many of us, but for people who live in their migration path, the orange and black-winged insects are especially near and dear.

Monarchs migrate every winter from their chilly northern homes to the warmer climates of Central America. They hang out in Mexico during the winter months before heading back north every spring to lay eggs and start the process all over again.

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In the spots where they stop and rest, hundreds of thousands – millions – of butterflies alight on trees trunks, branches, the forest floor, and anywhere else they can find a spot.

Instagram user @phil_torres nabbed an incredible video of the butterflies at rest, and was also there at the moment when millions of them took flight.

“How many butterflies does it take to make a noise in the woods? A few million. Watch (and listen!) as these monarchs put on a show at their overwintering site in Mexico.”

If the images were that amazing in video, I can imagine that being there in person must have raised more than a few goosebumps at the time.

A show indeed – one I’m so glad the internet allowed a few million of us to enjoy!