Wooly Worms - A Sign of Winter!

~ While out walking my country roads latey,

I've seen so many wooly worms on the road. 

I remember these from when I was a kid. 

I hadn't given much thought to the

wooly worms in years until recently. 

wooly worm (Pyrrharctia isabella)



~ I could not remember much about the wooly worm.

So, I did a little research and found out

that using wooly worms (Pyrrharctia isabella)

to predict winter is an old American folklore that

traces its history back to early Americana.

~ Supposedly, Native Americans taught the

pioneers to read wooly worms to predict Winter weather.

Wooly worm is the common name for the larval

stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth.

They are also called wooly bears.

~ You can find wooly worms under rocks,

inside hollow logs or just crawling on the ground. 

I've also seen them on the side of my house

on the window ledge outside and crawling on the overhead garage doors,

they just seem to be EVERYWHERE!

~ When you see a wooly worm, pay attention to its bands of colors.

The wooly worm will curl into a ball when touched or threatened.

When they crawl, they can crawl very quickly!

~ Wooly worm forecasters say that the size of

the brown band of color will tell you

what kind of Winter is coming.

~ Legend says that the thinner the brownish red bands,

the harsher the winter will be.

If the wooly worm is mostly brownish red in the middle, Winter will be mild.

~ The wooly worms I've seen seem to have a rather large brownish red band in the middle so that would indicate a mild Winter (can you say YAY?)

~ Wooly worm enthusiasts claim an 85 percent

success rate over the last few decades.

Scientists tend to disagree and say wooly worm

weather prediction is as unscientific as using

groundhogs to predict Winter weather.

The groundhogs likely side with the wooly worms.

~ Whether or not you believe in the power of wooly worms,

they can be to look at for children and adults.

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

♥

~ Lisa ~