Introductory entomology

Mathias found a caterpillar in the garden and wanted to keep it a an 'animal friend'. So we set him up with a glass jar with holes punched in the lid, some grass, and - voila! - there's a very small homemade terrarium. We are not sure how to interpret this, but he named the caterpillar Mamma.

The next morning it was clear that Mamma wasn't doing so well... It might have been the wrong kind of grass, or the air holes were too small, or something. For a brief moment we though he was dead and I told Mathias the bad news. In hindsight, that was the dumbest thing I've said in months! No four-year-old wants to hear that! But luckily Mamma started moving again, albeit slowly. In a desperate move we convinced Mathias that Mamma was probably missing his own mamma. And we really should release him back in the garden to go find her. Said and done: in a tearful good-bye ceremony Mamma went back to live amongst the flowers to search for his own mother. Many tears were shed over the prospect of a deceased caterpillar.

We may need to postpone the introduction to fishing!