Variety, flitting make for fun visit to Sioux Falls Butterfly House

It’s always summer inside the butterfly house in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Visitors to the Sertoma Butterfly House and Marine Cove can count on temperatures between 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit every day of the year. So, if it’s the middle of winter and you need a reminder of what lies ahead, stop in the butterfly house and warm up. While you’re there, check out more than 800 butterflies and moths from around the world.

The butterfly house has been open for 13 years and is a major tourist attraction with about 82,000 visitors last year. The beauty of the 3,600-square foot tropical garden is enough to want to visit. The trees and plants in the garden attract butterflies and moths.

We loved our visit. We enjoy seeing butterflies in the wild, so a chance to see so many at one time was, as they may say in a “Legos” movie, awesome! We were not disappointed. The butterflies were beautiful and fun to watch. It’s always a challenge to photograph them because they light and leave so quickly.

There was one type of butterfly that really intrigued me. I could swear it had two wings flapping at all times. When it landed on a flower, the back two wings were still, but the top wings kept fluttering. I found it a bit odd, but cool.

Visitors sit on the benches and let the butterflies come to them. Small children seem to really enjoy the butterfly exhibit.

There was one tree in particular that seemed to attract the majority of the butterflies. We staked it out for a while. We weren’t disappointed with the views we had there. Butterflies would hang upside down on some of the flowers.

We enjoy visiting butterfly houses because the beauty they present and the fact that these creatures are not afraid to land on you or fly near you. We had a wonderful time inside the butterfly house.

The facility isn’t just for butterflies. About four years ago, a marine cove was added. It helped attract more people to the butterfly house.

The marine cove displays hundreds of sea life creatures in about 10,000 gallons of aquariums. It’s the only salt water aquarium in South Dakota. Plans call for increasing the aquarium size significantly over the next few years.

In the meantime, visitors can see sea anemones, star fish, coral and stingrays, as well fish, such as clown fish.

Sea anemones are dangerous animals. They look like plants, and use polyps to capture and devour their prey. A guide told us that they need to be separated as they will attack one another.

In all the times we’ve visited aquariums, I can’t recall touching a starfish…until now. I expected a rough exterior based on how they look, but was surprised how smooth and soft the starfish really was.

The stingray display was the largest of the sea creatures. The rays had been petted a lot during the day, a caretaker told us, so they were starting to hang out in the sand. Apparently, they will “bury” themselves in the sand when they’ve had enough social contact for a while. I liked seeing them in the sand. It seemed natural.

We checked out a couple of small sharks, too. We caressed them, so that was an interesting experience. They had a bit of a rough exterior. Our family has a love-hate relationship. Our eldest daughter has always been scared of them since seeing “Jaws” on TV. In all fairness, she probably was 4 of 5 when she saw it. However, she did go on a shark tour in Hawaii with her sister last spring. They both were in a shark cage, but  I give her props for facing a fear.

The marine cove’s coral reef display is colorful. I love how all the colors work on a reef.

We had a great time visiting the Sertoma Butterfly House and Marine Cove. We highly recommend it when visiting Sioux Falls.

For more information, please visit www.sertomabutterflyhouseandmarinecove.org or www.visitsiouxfalls.com.

Disclaimer: Thanks to the Sioux Falls visitor bureau and Butterfly House for the complimentary visit. However, all opinions and views are ours.