By Erica Kearns
Is it just a wives’ tale my grandmother told me or can woolly worms really predict winter weather? As a child I was told that woolly worms, depending on the amount of brown on them would offer insight into whether the winter would be mild or harsh. There may be more truth to this legend than you think.
A woolly worm is actually the larva stage of the Isabella tiger moth. These caterpillars generally have black bands at each end of their bodies with a brown band in the middle. Folk wisdom tells that the smaller the brown band, the harsher the winter. But is there really any truth to a woolly worm accurately predicting the weather? In the 1950’s, Dr. C. Curran tested the woolly worms’ accuracy and found their weather predictions were correct an astounding 80% of the time.
With that being said, this little creature spotted in Clay may be letting us know that snow shovels and ice scrapers are in our near future. You may want to go ahead and get out your scarves and gloves – winter is just around the corner!