Rosie's Symbolic Pet

Rose's first pet: a little green caterpillar we found inching it's way across our backyard picnic table. I decided to help my daughter capture it and bring it inside -- she always wants to keep the treasures she finds outside.

I poked several holes in the plastic container's lid and kept the leaf which I used to transport him so he could have something to eat and crawl around on.

A couple days later the caterpillar was gone.
I opened the lid and realized the caterpillar had decided to take matters into his own hands. It was time to make a change. He built his own cocoon.

There were lots of little leaf "crumbs" on the floor of the container and a big chunk of leaf missing -- evidence of the little fellow's handiwork.

It will be interesting to keep an eye on Rosie's pet to see how long it'll take for this little guy to break out of his cocoon.

It took ten years for me to break from my incubation... my chrysalis. I believe the caterpillar will prove himself braver and wiser.