I’ve seen this graphic many times this fall which connects the amount of black or brown on a Woolly Bear caterpillar to how harsh winter is expected to be.
This folklore started in 1948 when a museum curator from New York City collected Woolly Bear caterpillars in a state park for 8 years straight and then worked with a reporter friend to publish a winter forecast in the New York Herald Tribune.
On a walk around the block the other day, I found this caterpillar on the sidewalk:
If I’m playing along, a completely black Woolly Bear means I better pack my suitcases for Florida now because it’s going to be the harshest winter of all!
After some snooping online, this could very well be an all-black Woolly Bear, or it could be a different species of caterpillar altogether.
It was a chilly day and he was doing a little sunbathing. I didn’t want to poke him for a better ID.
So far the forecast for November in southern Wisconsin is calling for above-normal temperatures and precipitation (which would most likely fall as rain).
I’m not packing my suitcases yet!