Labor Day Thoughts on the #BestJobEver

Don't touch the butterflies! (Except if you're a Butterfly Lady.)

Not a week goes by here at MOSI Outside without a guest or two remarking to us, "You really do have the best job ever!" This usually occurs while we're releasing newly-emerged butterflies into the Flight Encounter exhibit, which really is the best part of our job. Of course, there are an awful lot of behind-the-scenes duties that most of our guests don't realize come with the #BestJobEver, which might cause some of them to change their minds a bit. Then again, there are plenty of things about our very unique job - usually classified by others as "Butterfly Lady" - that make it pretty special.

The Daily Grind

Raising butterflies is fun. That is definitely a true statement. However, it's also messy, sweaty, back-breaking, exhausting work that takes place 365 days a year. The seemingly never-ending work necessary for keeping our Flight Encounter exhibit and gardens full of beautiful fluttering wings can be pretty brutal.

Hours. Caterpillars don't take weekends or holidays off from eating and growing, which means it's hard for our staff to take time off either. Our volunteers are a valuable part of the team where this is concerned, coming in at odd hours so the MOSI Outside staff (all two of us!) can have the occasional long weekend.

Weather. Everyone knows Florida summers are hot. Most people complain about the muggy heat on the way from their air-conditioned car to their air-conditioned houses. MOSI Outside staff report to work on summer days knowing that by 10 a.m., we'll be drenched with sweat with no chance of drying out for many hours. Rainy days are no different - the caterpillars have to be fed, which means their food has to be gathered and brought into the lab, no matter how wet we get. Winter brings a welcome respite from the heat, but chilly mornings still find us watering the Flight Encounter and other garden beds. In fact, most days at MOSI Outside involve being pretty damp (and dirty) from start to finish.

That mulch isn't gonna move itself!

Physical Labor. Caterpillars eat and eat and eat. Butterflies do the same, and they both need plenty of plants to keep them healthy. All of those plants have to be provided for them, and that's the biggest part of the MOSI Outside staff's job. We spend hours every week pulling weeds, watering, planting, pruning, mulching, and hauling. We care for more than 40 acres of grounds around the museum to sustain our butterfly population inside and out. Sciatica, pulled muscles, dislocated shoulders, bug bites and stings, rashes, sunburns, dehydration - all in day's work for a Butterfly Lady.

Work is Work. Like any other job, being a Butterfly Lady comes with its fair share of paper-pushing, reporting, and other mind-numbing tasks. We spend a lot of time dealing with the money side of things (applying for grants, managing budgets, squeezing blood from stones - that sort of thing). We attend meetings, answer emails, and return phone calls. By the end of many days, we're watching the clock just like anyone else.

So Why Do We Do It?

By now you're probably wondering, "Geez, if this job is so terrible, why are you still doing it?" And that brings us back to the special moments, the moments that lead people to exclaim, "I wish I had your job!" Here are some of our favorite things about working as a Butterfly Lady:

Come on, look how cute these guys are!

The Bugs. We here at MOSI Outside delight in bugs of all kinds. Collecting eggs, finding caterpillars, catching butterflies - all of these are some of our favorite tasks, even though they involve being out in the same hot and punishing sun. Flipping a leaf to find a Spicebush Swallowtail egg, snagging a Giant Swallowtail from a firebush, or picking Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars off cassia bushes like blueberries... these are always high points of our days.

The Great Outdoors. Some folks go into work each morning and don't see the sky again until they clock out at the end of the day. And while some people don't mind being cooped up inside, MOSI Outside staff would simply hate it. We love the ability to be outside, where something new is always happening and the view is never the same. A typical day for us will include the spotting (and sometimes rescue) of dozens of wildlife species, even though we work in one of the most developed parts of the Tampa area. Natural beauty is a routine part of our day - but it never gets old.

Constant Learning Opportunities. There's no manual for the job we do at MOSI Outside. We're always learning something new, because working with living organisms requires constant research and adaptation. Smartphones have made our jobs even more fun, since we can now identify plants and insects in the field, and use citizen science apps to report our findings. This blog currently has more than 800 posts on a variety of topics, all of which we've written after study and experience. This is the perfect job for an autodidact, and MOSI Outside staff thrives on the challenges.

Special moments like these really do matter.

Making a Difference. Perhaps it's a cliche, but being a Butterfly Lady really does allow us to make a difference in the world around us. The healthy population of butterflies, moths, birds, and other Florida wildlife found on our site is able to thrive because of the gardens and natural areas we spend so much time caring for. More than that, we educate museum guests about Florida ecology, and send many folks home to start their own butterfly gardens. Every day, we see the wonder on someone's face as they watch a butterfly feeding at a flower or laying eggs, often the first time they've observed that behavior up close. We help to spark an interest in the living sciences, and it's a real privilege for us.

So, do we "Butterfly Ladies" really have the #BestJobEver? It's hard to say. But there's no doubt that we have some pretty high highs along the way. Interested in joining us? Consider volunteering - click here to learn more.