They haven't left yet!

[PineBurrowPeeps]

My hummers left a week ago. We miss them already

The Wooly Bear caterpillars are also indictating a harsh winter... I know some people think it's Kooky but they have never let me down and man their band this year is so large they hardly have ANY black...

I'm worried.
Must get going on winter prep!

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:
So, if there is a skinny black band, then a big brown band then another skinny black band means a harsh winter? I have also heard that it can mean it will start out mild, then get harsh and end up mild? I love these old beliefs, and more times than not there is something to it!!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
So, if there is a skinny black band, then a big brown band then another skinny black band means a harsh winter? I have also heard that it can mean it will start out mild, then get harsh and end up mild? I love these old beliefs, and more times than not there is something to it!!

From:
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/macon/palette/061015.html


There is a lot of folklore surrounding the banded wooly worm, particularly related to its supposed power to predict upcoming winter weather each fall. The typical banded wooly worm has sections of black hairs at each end, and a section of orange-brown hairs in the center. Legend says that the more black on a banded wooly worm, the more severe the winter will be. Some folks have taken this to an extreme, and noting that there are thirteen segments in a typical banded wooly worm, they argue that each segment represents one week of winter. Orange segments predict mild weeks, and black ones foretell bad winter weather.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
All your hummers are at my house. They've been flogging the feeders since early this morning.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
So, if there is a skinny black band, then a big brown band then another skinny black band means a harsh winter? I have also heard that it can mean it will start out mild, then get harsh and end up mild? I love these old beliefs, and more times than not there is something to it!!

Yes, the heads will be black and the tail should be black with a rusty brown band in the middle. The bigger the brown band, the harsher the winter is supposed to be.
How I do it, is to look at and write down the appearence of 10 of them. You can usually stumble upon them outside easily enough as they hibernate for the winter and actually change into a moth the following spring...
Majority out of the 10 rules. So far, I found 7 and ALL of them have had either nearly no black tail or no black tail at all! I have never seen that before and I have been watching the Wooly bears since I was a kid! I sure hope they are wrong!

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
So, if there is a skinny black band, then a big brown band then another skinny black band means a harsh winter? I have also heard that it can mean it will start out mild, then get harsh and end up mild? I love these old beliefs, and more times than not there is something to it!!

From:
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/macon/palette/061015.html


There is a lot of folklore surrounding the banded wooly worm, particularly related to its supposed power to predict upcoming winter weather each fall. The typical banded wooly worm has sections of black hairs at each end, and a section of orange-brown hairs in the center. Legend says that the more black on a banded wooly worm, the more severe the winter will be. Some folks have taken this to an extreme, and noting that there are thirteen segments in a typical banded wooly worm, they argue that each segment represents one week of winter. Orange segments predict mild weeks, and black ones foretell bad winter weather.

That is funny, it's always been the exact opposite here! We were taught as kids by grandparents and great parents that it's the brown you look at for harshness, not the black...
Interesting!!!

 

[suebee]

Hummingbirds are still here at my house in North Carolina. This is the latest they've ever stayed.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I believe you are correct. It is the opposite in the North.
I'm originally from NC. I've attended the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, NC several times.

 

[gritsar]

Of course, if you want to be more conventional the Farmer's Almanac is also predicting a bad winter.

Back into hibernation I go.

suebee I won't ask you to list your town, but are you near Wilson? And another ? if you don't mind. Do you ever attend auctions in Rocky Mount or Wilson?

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

Quote:
I believe you are correct. It is the opposite in the North.
I'm originally from NC. I've attended the Wooly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, NC several times.

COOL BEANS! A wooly worm FESTIVAL?!
I wanna go!

Wow, strange meeting someone else who is "into" listening to creatures... My husband just shakes his head and rolls his eyes at me. Makes me feel like Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter...