SLIDE SHOW: Lost River Cave visitors help release native butterflies
Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, July 2, 2025
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Elise Kemper, 7, examines a Swallowtail butterfly as it comes out of dormancy and warms up in the sun while a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
2/16
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A Red Admiral butterfly collects pollen from a flower in the Lost River Cave Butterfly Habitat as a group of 30 visitors arrive to help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky into the habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
3/16
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A group of 30 visitors enter Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat to help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
4/16
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Lost River Cave Butterfly Habitat Curator Erin Hogan hands Diana Rauch of Springfield, Mo., a butterfly to hold as a group of 30 visitors release a new batch of butterflies in the Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
5/16
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Claire Hughes, 6, of Fort Campbell holds out a butterfly to a flower as a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
6/16
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Claire Kemper, 7, smiles as she and her mother Madison help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
7/16
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Vickie Mullins of Bowling Green holds a Buckeye butterfly as it warms its wings in the sun while a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
8/16
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A Painted Lady butterfly lands on the shoulders of Diana Rauch of Springfield, Mo., as a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
9/16
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A Painted Lady butterfly lands on the shoe of Brent Dillard of Portland, Tenn., as he joins a group of 30 visitors to help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
10/16
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Lost River Cave Butterfly Habitat Curator Erin Hogan instructs visitors on how to hold a butterfly as it’s coming out of dormancy until it warms up in the sun as a group of 30 people get ready to help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in the Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
11/16
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Cambrie Stucky, 4, of Fort Dodge, Iowa, smiles as she holds a butterfly as it comes out of dormancy and warms up in the sun while a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
12/16
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A Red Admiral butterfly relaxes on an educational sign in the Lost River Cave Butterfly Habitat as a group of 30 visitors arrive to help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky into the habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
13/16
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David Rauch of Springfield, Mo., holds a Painted Lady butterfly on his finger as a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
14/16
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Mattingly Bailey, 6, (left) of Bowling Green talks with Madison Kemmer (right) about the butterflies they’re holding as a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
15/16
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Annette Campbell of Louisville watches as her butterfly warms up in the sun while a group of 30 visitors help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
16/16
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A Zebra Swallowtail butterfly relaxes on a plant in the Lost River Cave Butterfly Habitat as a group of 30 visitors arrive to help release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky into the habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
A group of 30 visitors helped release a new batch of butterflies native to Kentucky in Lost River Cave’s Butterfly Habitat on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
About Grace McDowell
Photojournalist for the Bowling Green Daily News since 2019. Any news or sports tips? Send them my way at grace.mcdowell@bgdailynews.com!
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