MONROE - The black and brown Woolly Bear caterpillar sighted Oct. 6 on Monroe's westside has a prediction: At 1.5 inches long with a 3/4 inch bronze middle, he's bringing news of a relatively mild winter this year.
The fuzzy little creature's bronze-colored midsection supposedly represents mildness and his black ends indicate severe weather, according to weather folklore.
Some caterpillar readers point out that the 13 body segments represent the 13 weeks of winter and will venture to predict the number of weeks of severe and mild winter weather based on the number of bronze and black body segments.
Others worm watchers base their predictions on the thickness of Woolly Bear coats. If you see a lot of dark Woolly worms crawling around, unusually slow, in heavy coats before the first frost, winter will be brutal.
Scientists dismiss the predictions, attributing the amount of black coloration to the amount of moisture the little guy has received.
The Woolly Bear is a larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth that emerges from its pupa or winter cocoon stage with a wingspan of about 2.5 inches in the spring.
As a predictor of winter's severity, Woolly Bears, or woolly worms, are common in winter weather folklore, perhaps because they are found throughout the United States. But they also seem to be the most popular, with names like fuzzy bear, black-ended bear, or banded woolly bear, and with their own festivals in places like Banner Elk, N.C.; Vermilion, Ohio; Beattyville, Ky.; and Camargo, Ill.
Weather prediction folklore is handed down from one generation to another, and can be found in the Bible, Greek mythology and Shakespeare.
Indicators sometimes seem to contradict each other, and different areas of the world use different indicators for weather predictions, as weather patterns differ.
But then, The Farmers Almanac and the National Weather Service sometimes disagree on the severity of upcoming winter.
The Old Farmer's Almanac is showing a cold, dry 2008-09 winter for the Monroe area.
The National Weather Service's forecast is for 50 percent chance of above-normal temperatures, a 33 percent chance of near normal and a 17 percent chance for below normal.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center says there are equal possibilities for rain and snowfall being below, near or above normal.
Folklore followers will watch for a wicked winter from a host of indicators:
• animals coats are thick;
• squirrels have bushy-tails, build their nest low and gather a big store of nuts early;
• corn tassels are thick;
• birds migrate early;
• leaves shed before changing color;
• bees hide their honey deeper in hives; and,
• field mice cover their holes early.
If you can't depend on anything else, check with the Woolly Bear worm. High-tech, scientific weather predictions hit correctly about 85 percent of the time, while folklore is given a 75 to 95 percent score.
But then there's the old saying, "only newcomers and damned fools try to predict the weather."
The fuzzy little creature's bronze-colored midsection supposedly represents mildness and his black ends indicate severe weather, according to weather folklore.
Some caterpillar readers point out that the 13 body segments represent the 13 weeks of winter and will venture to predict the number of weeks of severe and mild winter weather based on the number of bronze and black body segments.
Others worm watchers base their predictions on the thickness of Woolly Bear coats. If you see a lot of dark Woolly worms crawling around, unusually slow, in heavy coats before the first frost, winter will be brutal.
Scientists dismiss the predictions, attributing the amount of black coloration to the amount of moisture the little guy has received.
The Woolly Bear is a larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth that emerges from its pupa or winter cocoon stage with a wingspan of about 2.5 inches in the spring.
As a predictor of winter's severity, Woolly Bears, or woolly worms, are common in winter weather folklore, perhaps because they are found throughout the United States. But they also seem to be the most popular, with names like fuzzy bear, black-ended bear, or banded woolly bear, and with their own festivals in places like Banner Elk, N.C.; Vermilion, Ohio; Beattyville, Ky.; and Camargo, Ill.
Weather prediction folklore is handed down from one generation to another, and can be found in the Bible, Greek mythology and Shakespeare.
Indicators sometimes seem to contradict each other, and different areas of the world use different indicators for weather predictions, as weather patterns differ.
But then, The Farmers Almanac and the National Weather Service sometimes disagree on the severity of upcoming winter.
The Old Farmer's Almanac is showing a cold, dry 2008-09 winter for the Monroe area.
The National Weather Service's forecast is for 50 percent chance of above-normal temperatures, a 33 percent chance of near normal and a 17 percent chance for below normal.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center says there are equal possibilities for rain and snowfall being below, near or above normal.
Folklore followers will watch for a wicked winter from a host of indicators:
• animals coats are thick;
• squirrels have bushy-tails, build their nest low and gather a big store of nuts early;
• corn tassels are thick;
• birds migrate early;
• leaves shed before changing color;
• bees hide their honey deeper in hives; and,
• field mice cover their holes early.
If you can't depend on anything else, check with the Woolly Bear worm. High-tech, scientific weather predictions hit correctly about 85 percent of the time, while folklore is given a 75 to 95 percent score.
But then there's the old saying, "only newcomers and damned fools try to predict the weather."