Spoiler alert, because these caterpillars are seeking over-wintering harborage, they are predicting it will freeze this winter! See…they can prognosticate future temperatures! As I write this, October 22, we are still waiting for our first frost, much less killing freeze (≤28☏) with none forecasted in the near future. ( Photo Credit: John Obermeyer)įolklore tells us that the woolly bear is able to predict how cold/mild the winter will be. This woolly bear is determined to make it across the road, unlike his ill-fated buddy. Amazingly, because they are able to chemically alter their bodily fluids to much like anti-freeze, the shelter is probably more to protect them from predators, e.g., raccoons and birds, during this winter stasis.
Within the last couple hundred years, they have also used our structures such as barns, outhouses, etc. Sadly, many met their fate by car tire, never to experience the other side…paradise!? Why is the woolly bear caterpillar crossing the road…other than “to get to the other side!” The purpose, observers for many generations tell us, is to find the perfect over-wintering site, under leaf litter, fallen tree branches, rock crevices, etc. Though I had experienced this phenomenon before, I did stop to enjoy and take some pictures! First, you’ve got to appreciate their determination, relative speed, and direct path in moving across the road. At one particular location, they were crossing en masse from one weedy, unharvested soybean field to a grass pasture. While traveling a local county road this week, I was amazed at the number of woolly bear caterpillars I came across.
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