Wooly Bear Catepillar

dc410

dc410

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It is Wooly Bear season. I always remember hearing that the more black you see on the Wooly Bear Catepillar the harder winter we are going to have. All black ones mean "LOOK OUT!", lots of snow on the way. This year I have been seeing a fair amount of Wooly Bear catepillars but almost all of the ones that I have seen have been of the totally blond variety. Does this mean that we don't even have to worry about getting the snowblower out of the back shed this year? Don't get me wrong, I don't have that much faith in it and am definitlely skeptical of the whole theory. Just wondering what color Wooly Bears have you been seeing.

BTW, the adult phase of the Wooly Bear catepillar is the Isabella Tiger Moth ...... something for in the what its worth department.
 

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Thanks for the report John. I hear the blonde ones aren't all that smart and most of them end up in the water and food for trout. :roll:
 
I've seen a few that were half black and half tan - which I usually see every year.

FWIW - the farmers almanac is predicting a long cold winter. However, if my memory serves me correctly - they also called for a rough winter 2 years ago, in 2011 and 2012. And that turned out to be the winter that wasn't.
 
Pretty sure the tan ones are a completely different type of caterpillar compared to the black and tan ones. I think they call the one you found, a yellow bear.

Sunday, I found an all black caterpillar with red lines on it's skin. Found out it was a leopard moth caterpillar. Cool looking moth.

Leopard moth
 
They're running all over the roads on the park near my house. The ones I'm seeing seem to be pretty dark.
 
I've seen a few all black, a couple of all white, and black and tan mixed. I'm sure mother nature will let keep us all guessing.
 
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