I took a picture of the woolly bear I captured last week, and it clearly shows a much longer rusty-colored middle band indicating a milder winter. If the tail end is dark, the end of winter will be cold.”īill Reid What is Connecticut's woolly bear winter prediction? If the head end of the caterpillar is dark, the beginning of winter will be severe. The position of the longest dark bands supposedly indicates which part of the winter will be the coldest or hardest. Similarly, the wider the middle brown band is associated with a milder upcoming winter. The longer the woolly bear’s black bands, the longer, colder, and snowier and more severe the winter will be. “According to folklore, the amount of black on the woolly bear in autumn varies proportionately with the severity of the coming winter where the caterpillar is found. How does the woolly bear caterpillar predict winter? To help me determine what my woolly bear was predicting, I went to the experts – the National Weather Service! Certainly, they would provide the answer, and sure enough here is what I discovered, according to the National Weather Service’s website with a section devoted to woolly bear folklore. You may have heard the old folktale that the length of the woolly bear's rust- or black-colored bands are a predictor of winter weather, but I couldn’t remember, for the life of me, what these colored bands meant. I picked it up, and it instantly curled into my warm hand. I’ve been looking for signs that another change of seasons is upon us and wondering whether winter will be cold and snowy, wet and warm, or a combination of whatever winter may bring? The other morning, while heading to the barn for chores, a folklore winter season predictor literally crossed my path, or rather crawled along on its belly in front of me.Ī woolly bear caterpillar, wrapped in a warm fuzzy cloak of black and rusty-brown bands was making good time through the grass, minding its own business and steadfast in its search for winter quarters. To date, we’ve had nice weekend weather and only one mildly frosty morning, which did little damage to the remnant plants in the vegetable garden. The red maples are shimmering scarlet, and green hickory leaves are slowly giving way to yellow shades hidden within. At this writing, the trees appear to be in peak color, with most of our large sugar maples sporting bright yellow and orange coats with splashes of red. By all accounts, October has been a spectacular year for foliage.
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