The Caterpillar

Lilly was playing in our front yard bushes when she finds a huge, green caterpillar.  She shows it to me and we take a picture of it.  Then, she wants to know if she can pick it up.  At first I say, "No way!"  Then, I say, "Okay but do not put it on me or you will be in big trouble."  Next, I start to think it could be poisonous or something, so I tell her to use a stick and not her hands.  Well, she captures the thing and shows it to me - very proud of herself.  The caterpillar goes into "puppy's dish" - which is basically a flower pot outside our front door used to store the leaves, sticks, rocks, etc that she gathers but I will not let her bring them in the house.  She goes to get her stuffed dog and pretends that he is eating the contents of the pot, including the caterpillar.  She blocks off part of the pot with something and thinks that the caterpillar will stay in there.  Unfortunately, when we checked on him the next day, he was gone.