With rising fuel costs we’re all concerned with whether this will be a mild or extra cold winter. Last winter wasn’t too bad until the end, then it got rather bitter.
Some people watch to see how busy the squirrels are in hiding nuts away. Do you suppose they ever find all they’ve stored?
This morning, Marshall McPeek, one of the local NBC weathermen, talked about another winter forecaster - the woolly bear caterpillar.
As kids, we all knew about the stories of the size of their color bands being good predictors of the winter weather. The one Marshall had in his story had a wide center band which is supposed to indicate a mild winter. Let’s hope so.
I searched Wikipedia for more info on this caterpillar, but couldn’t find anything. So, I emailed Marshall to get the official name. He was nice enough to quickly return my email with additional info as well.
This little woolly bear is the larva of the Pyrrharctia Isabella moth. It emerges from its egg in the fall. Wikipedia doesn’t believe in the folklore of the woolly bear, but then they’re supposed to be a “factual” resource of info.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac tells a different story of the tests that were done to arrive at the rationale for the folklore. Some people in the late 1800’s actually bothered to measure the black and orange bands over a period of years and compared it to the following winter weather.
Marshall also mentioned that Vermilion (between Cleveland and Toledo) actually has a Woolly Bear Festival. They have woolly bear races and use the winning woolly bear to predict the coming winter’s weather. Their web site says they have a parade and other festivities rivaling the 4th of July. Go figure!
Watching a woolly bear RACE must be as exciting as watching paint dry. The Murph thinks wiener dog races are a whole lot more exciting!
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Elaine Reese
614-825-8860Real Living HER
2 responses so far ↓
Carole Cohen // November 9, 2007 at 1:13 am
oh my yes we have Dick Goddard (I swear he was a weather man before I was born) who is mr. woolybear. The one in the photo is very pretty and I don’t think we have many wooly bears anymore. At least I remember more as a kid. Probably those darn pesticides.
As for the squirrels…well one of them buried a tiny porcelain wolf I had in my jade plant container (this was last month when it was warm enough for them to be out side). He/she is going to be surprised when digging it up from the frozen earth in January
elainereese // November 9, 2007 at 9:25 am
I, too, remember more woolly bears as a kid. I haven’t seen one for years. I think I’ve seen the moth version, but don’t see the caterpillar. Maybe I’m just not out digging in the dirt that much anymore.
If you go to the Woolly Bear Festival web site, Dick Goddard is featured there. I remember him when we lived in Hiram in the early 60’s and were watching the Cleveland TV stations.
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