Woolly bear caterpillars seem to be everywhere these days – creeping across the lawn, along the road when I’m walking the dog, hidden in the wilted cut-back of the perennial garden.
Perhaps because of their recognizability and the timing of their wanderings, there are several weather-predicting legends attached to woolly bear caterpillars. One is that the direction the caterpillars travel foretells the severity of the winter: if they’re headed south, they’re running away from coming cold; north means winter will be mild. Anyone who’s ever paid attention to the movement of woolly bears likely knows they travel any which way on any given day, so there’s not much merit to that tall tale.
Another prognostic idea suggests the severity of winter can be predicted by the width of the caterpillar’s brown band: a larger band means a milder winter; narrower means winter will be severe. Since the brown band grows wider with each molt the caterpillar completes, it’s really more an indication of age – and, Layne said, sometimes genetics.
At this time of year, woolly bears are on the move, eating just about any growing thing they can find. Perhaps in their captivating wanderings, they’re also looking for that perfect pile of leaf litter to curl into and wait for winter to pass.
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