The secrets of Sudbury's 'butterfly whisperer'

Naughton's Sarah Pappin is known by many as a teacher, a caring mom and wife, and a lover of nature.

But recently the Sudbury area woman earned a new title from her friends: "The Butterfly Whisperer."

This summer, Pappin raised and released more than 100 Monarchs from her home, to do her part stemming the butterfly's decline.

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Pappin told CBC's Up North that she started looking after Monarchs when she heard the species was at risk.

"I shop regularly at [local greenhouses] and I noticed they had milkweed for sale," Pappin said.

"It took a little while to establish, but noticed them last year, when the kids found a monarch that was getting harassed by a wasp."

Pappin brought the caterpillar inside, and by the end of the summer they had around 35 caterpillars in the house in various shelters, aquariums and containers.

"We got to watch them [transform,]" Pappin said. "And because I teach summer school, I got to bring some chrysalids in."

"Ironically, on the last day of school, many of them transformed into butterflies."

Pappin said this summer she managed to watch the six to eight-week cycle of over one hundred caterpillars in her house.

"It's always exciting," Pappin said. "They're gentle, you can sit with them on your hand for a few minutes. Some would fly as soon as they got out, sometimes they would come back and sit with you. Other times they would just keep going."

Pappin is also encouraging people to plant more milkweed in their gardens, a species that Monarchs are attracted to.

"Anybody who's interested, visit your local greenhouse, and even if it's in a planter, plant milkweed," she said. "If you plant it, they will come to you."