Thanks. My kids seem to be ok with it. My youngest cried a little when we put Matt in his box last night. I think I may be handling it the worst. I don't handle these kinds of things very well. I love animals. We have 6 cats and a dog. One other cat we had passed a few years ago, and another was an outdoor cat that we let out one night at the old house and he never came back.
I wasn't really sure if Matt was gone or not and worried maybe it was some form of diapause or something, so I did a little research online last night and actually emailed a local Monarch butterfly farm last night in the hopes they made shed some light on it, and they were kind enough to respond this morning.
Thanks for making an effort and taking the time to assist Matt.
Often this time of year a few Monarchs do emerge not in the best shape , that's just nature. The butterfly would not survive til spring even if you kept it indoors. I believe from how you described it's condition, the butterfly has expired.
The proper way to lay Matt to rest is to put him in an envelope and leave in the freezer overnight and then simply cover with leaves somewhere quiet out in nature, thanks again for your kindness tword nature, we need more people like yourself. Well, even though I really appreciated the response that made me cry again. I probably shouldn't admit these things online but there it is. So I was looking some more at their website this morning and decided to buy some milkweed seeds from them for the kids to plant next spring and donated $10 in Matt's memory. I know it's not much, but I wanted to thank them for even replying.
So I just put Matt in the freezer as they suggested, and later I want to bury outside under one of our back windows that way when the lights are on it'll warm his ground
Here's one last picture of Matt my daughter had taken with her phone.
Here's the website of the gentlemen I spoke to by email. Give them a follow on Facebook or twitter if you do those kinds of things.
https://easternmonarchbutterflyfarm.com/