Another Woolly Bear Caterpillar Winter Prediction?

It’s getting that time of year where we hear of the tales of Woolly Bear Caterpillar Winter Prediction. Is this something you believe in or not? Well, I guess “believe in” would not be the term to use here, because we all know that caterpillars are not reliable weather predictors. ( Or are they…Mwwahhhaaa)

I have done a few other predictions in past posts such as this one and this one. But to be honest, I never really go back and check to see if the predictions were correct. It is just a fun thing to do.

Do you start watching for the Woolly Bear Caterpillar in the fall too? I can’t help but keep an eye out for him. Or her? But it seems that here in Ohio, I rarely see them anymore. In fact, this one I filmed was only the second one I had seen all season. This first one I didn’t have a camera with me, and this one I filmed was only because it was right here at the house crawling in the front flower beds.

My daughter and I were jumping back and forth trying to keep our shadows from blocking the poor caterpillar. She’s just seeking her home for the winter. Maybe under one of my hypertufa pots?

Biologists say that they find a place to live for the winter and just curl up, create their own anti-freeze, and sleep in hibernation til spring thaw. I sure hope my pots are a good place for them to live.

Woolly Bear Caterpillar Winter Predictions

From what I have heard, those little segments of the caterpillar’s body show the sequence of the winter weeks.  So if winter in 2019 begins on Dec 22  and 13 weeks later ends on March 20, those 13 weeks are the segments of the Woolly Bear’s body, right?

Coincidence?

Of course, some killjoys want to tell us that the color of those segments just represent the caterpillar’s feeding during its season of growth. The more orange segments the longer the feeding occurred this year. Well, my Daddy and Mommy told me it predicted the winter, so there!

But we like our old fashioned chasing of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar to predict our winter here. It’s fun and makes for lots of giggles and kids chasing other kids with the worms. My daughter and son are “worm holders” and I guess they get that from their Dad, but me…nah! don’t want to hold it. Ewww.

My Mom always planted her vegetables by phases of the moon like she saw in Farmer’s Almanac. How many of you still do that? Is that an Old Wives’ Tale too?

My Official Prediction for Winter Weather 2019-2020

Evidence in Point

So here is the prediction:  Those first 5 segments are the head and they are black, so from Dec 22 there will be some pretty rough winter weather for 5 weeks. Cold? Snow? Ice?

Then the next 6 segments are orange which is mild weather. So from January 26 til March 7, it will be milder, less snow, not too cold. Going out on a limb here. Are you with me?

Those final two segments in the rear are black. Whoa! Looks like from the 8th til the 20th, we will be hammered with bad snow, ice, cold. Who knows how that will hit us?

Then comes Spring on March 20. Finally spring returns! So there you go!

Straight from the Woolly Bear and me!  So am I pretty much full of it or not?