From the Wild into the Wild

After a spring morning of outdoor play, Tawni discovered that a caterpillar had hitched a ride into the daycare on Cathy's shoulder.  It was a long caterpillar that looked like a stick.  We hoped that we would be able to watch it change if we kept it inside for a while, so we got a large jar and added a touch of water and a branch.

We were surprised at how quickly the changes started coming!  For the first few days the caterpillar remained stick-like. It would even stand stiff on the branch that we gave it, looking like it was part of the branch!  Within a few days it found a comfy spot in the little "ear" piece of the jar, and started building a web. Our brown stick caterpillar was now short, fat and green, but not for long.... The greenish skin became black.  We wondered if it was alive because it hadn't moved in a long time. We waited and waited for more than 2 weeks......
Then one Monday we found...

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