Can a caterpillar predict winter weather?

Can this woolly bear caterpillar determine what kind of winter we’ll have? Photos by Doug Oster Tribune-Review

It’s always cool to discover a woolly bear caterpillar hiding in the garden. I was planting garlic when I stumbled on to a couple in this video.

The folklore is such; if a woolly bear has more orange than black the winter will be mild. In 1948 Dr. C. H. Curran, curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City wanted to see if stories about the woolly bear might be true.

He went to upstate New York and collected a bunch of caterpillars every season for eight years. He measured the segments and correlated the colors to the weather. He did find that in years that the caterpillar had more orange than black, the winters were milder. He understood though that it really wasn’t a very scientific study as the number of caterpillars collected was small. It was just a fun thing he did with his wife at Bear Mountain State Park.

Most scientists discount the idea that the woolly bear predicts the weather, but when I find caterpillars with a lot of orange, I want to believe the upcoming winter will be easy one. Here’s the whole story via The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

In my completely unscientific findings, years with lots of orange equal mild winters. We can only hope.

Woolly bear caterpillars curl up when they are disturbed.