It's springtime! April showers will bring May flowers, and with those flowers come BUGS! At PETA Kids, being an animal lover doesn't just mean loving cats and dogs—we love all the creatures on the planet, even bugs! (We also love word searches—try your hand at our PETAKids Spring Word Search!) Some bugs may seem gross, but some are very beautiful—such as the butterfly!

Butterflies are amazing creatures. Here are some hints on how to attract butterflies to your garden (or porch or windowsill):

Make sure you plant a ton of nectar-producing flowers (because nectar is what adult butterflies eat). Lots of red and yellow colorful flowers work the best! Also, butterflies are cold-blooded and need to warm themselves in a calm, sunny place, so make sure your garden is protected from the wind and in the perfect spot to catch the sun's rays. Did you know that butterflies also need water? If you leave some little puddles of water around, they can get all the moisture they need! But remember, don't catch them! They are much happier living in the wild than they would be in a jar.

Bees may be scary to those with allergies, but they are also fascinating. They fly at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour, live in colonies with 20,000 to 80,000 other bees, and communicate with each other by dancing! Unfortunately, many beekeepers (who keep bees in order to make money from the honey and beeswax that they produce) abuse the bees in their care. Some large honey producers cut off the wings of the queen bee so that she can't leave the colony, and then they take all the honey that the bees produce (without leaving them any to live off of during the winter—instead, giving them a cheap sugar substitute that is not as healthy for them as honey is). Many bees are killed or have their wings and legs torn off because they are not handled correctly on these "honey farms." Luckily, many sweeteners are made without hurting bees. Try rice syrup, molasses, agave nectar, maple syrup, barley malt, cane sugar, and dried fruit instead!

Ants are regular visitors whenever food is around (like at picnics). Better hold on to your veggie burger, because ants can carry 10 to 20 times their bodyweight and work in teams to carry extremely heavy things! One place no one wants to see an ant is inside the house. You can keep ants outside without hurting them by pouring a line of cream of tartar, red chili powder, paprika, or dried peppermint where you think the ants are coming into the house. They won't cross the line! Who knew that items you already have in your kitchen could help you keep your house ant-free AND not hurt them?

Check out our PETAKids Spring Word Search and test your word-hunting skill! And don't forget: "Be Kind to Animals" Week is from May 4 to 10, and that means all animals, including insects.