My friend Maria Hayda shared this wonderful picture of a wooly caterpillar that she took, along with some fascinating weather lore:
"Judging by this wooly caterpillar’s markings, it will not be a mild winter. According to my Ukrainian Grandma, very black ends that travel inwards and not just on the tips of these caterpillars signal a snowy, cold winter. She was 100% Ukrainian from Kharkiv. Unfortunately, I never thought to ask how she knew that."
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac this folklore is believed throughout the United States. It’s probably just a myth but people have fun counting the wooly’s rings. There are even festivals in honor of the wooly caterpillar.
Thanks for sharing Maria!
This article was posted on Tuesday, October 1st, 2013 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Folk Lore, Insect Lore, Seasonal, Ukraine, Ukrainian, USA, Weather, Weather Lore. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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