h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have a caterpillar that is feeding right now and only comes out at night. He is living in a hanging basket.{I go outside to smoke and get bored} This is so unusual for this time of year. any advice please

I found one on the carpet this week after I'd taken the Christmas tree out.

Advice? It seems to be happy and safe enough where it is. Are there eaves or anything nearby it can crawl under to pupate without being disturbed?

on day one give it an apple, day two - two pears, day three - three plums etc... eventually it will be a lovely butterfly (or moth)

Give up smoking

Or at least smoke a hookah, caterpillars like those.

There's a type of Winter Moth that is active in November and December.
https://extension.umass.edu/landscape/fact-sheets/winter-moth-identification-management
They emerge to lay eggs and be nuisances [I often find them clustered on my front door, as if they wanted to get inside]. But caterpillars from these moths would not be around now. The eggs hatch in the Spring....