Highlights

November 2022 - Woolly Bears

ACTIVITY ALERT - Cancelled

Due to the poor weather predicted for Saturday, Nov.12, this walk is cancelled.

Our next bioreserve walk will be in December. Stay tuned....

Woolly bears are black ...fore and aft ...and have a reddish-brown middle. In the late fall early colonial farmers consulted a local woolly bear to see how severe the upcoming winter would be.  

 

 

November, after the first hard frost, usually provides a few warm and dry "Indian summer" days. An ideal time for a hike in area forests and woodlands to see if you can find a woolly bear. If you're successful in your search, be sure to check the width of the woolly bears reddish-brown band. If the reddish-brown band is broad and the black ends short, milder the winter will be. If narrow, between broad black ends, winter will be snowy and cold.

 

Some woolly bears are shy and if picked up will curl their body into a circle and not move until placed back on the ground. Bolder bears will crawl around on your hand searching for a way to escape to continue their search for the ideal spot to sleep away the winter. 

With the arrival of spring the woolly bears awaken from hibernation and transform into attractive Isabella tiger moths which then mate and lay their eggs. From these eggs hatch that fall's winter weather prognosticating woolly bears ...and the cycle continues.

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