Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Wolly Bear Winter

I have never noticed caterpillars out at this time of year...apparently these little fuzzy brown and black caterpillars come out at this time of year every year to feed and then hibernate for the winter. My husband informed me that these little guys are like the ground hogs of winter to farmers and people who believe in old wives tales.


One expert states "According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the longer the middle brown band, the milder and shorter the coming winter; the shorter the brown band, the longer and more severe winter will be."


I never knew that... cute huh? Anyway, so Max has this little woolly bear habitat that he's been toting around everywhere.... we used an old UTZ pretzel container and drilled some holes in the top and he took his caterpillar to preschool for show and tell....(I love it, that's the kind of stuff I remember doing as a kid.) We went to pick up "aimee goat" milk today and they were everywhere at the farm...so now we have a woolly bear village thriving at our house. (at least I hope they are thriving)

So according to this caterpillar its going to be a short mild winter. THANK THE LORD!!!! I don't know if I will survive a rough winter.

2 comments:

Madeline said...

Oh, how fabulous! I don't think we have those around here. My sister and I used to run around collecting strange bugs and critters when we were kiddos. Those are some great memories.

Danielle said...

awe. so cute. I want one.