The Woolly Bear Is Coming For You
Posted on October 25, 2022 Posted by John Scalzi 8 Comments
It’s Woolly Bear season, those being not actual bears but the caterpillars of a tiger moth, who wander around this time of year fattening up in order to freeze through the winter and become moths when it warms again, or so Wikipedia tells me. The rumor is that you can tell whether it’s going to be a mild or severe weather by how wide the orange band is on the Woolly Bears, but honestly, I can never remember the formula, and also the orange band always looks pretty much the same width every time I see one.
Also, the rumor that their hairs are poisonous is not true, but they can cause irritation by sticking into your skin like splinters. I didn’t touch this one in any event; I took pictures and then let it do its thing. I look forward to seeing it in its moth iteration… well, whenever that actually happens.
— JS
“Back off, human! This isn’t even my final form!”
— Wooly Bear
“Also, the rumor that their hairs are poisonous is not true, but they can cause irritation by sticking into your skin like splinters. I didn’t touch this one in any event…”
So what you are saying is, if you are a bird, don’t eat them.
Bless the maker and his water. Bless the coming and going of him. May his passage cleanse the world. May he keep the world for his people.
I wish I had thought of Steve’s comment. ^^^
What is the interesting surface the caterpillar is standing on?
It’s a cool picture. Aren’t we glad those things are little and not the size of Volkswagons?!
We call them woolly worms where I live in Virginia. The story in this area is that the earlier they appear, the worse the winter is going to be.
:)