I remember looking at wooly worms to see if we’d get a bad winter when I was a kid, but I don’t put a lot of store in that as an adult. Some of the old folk wisdom that older farmers still adhere to, now that I still give some credence. The assumption behind these beliefs is that nature provides for its own, so if a bad winter is coming, mast will be heavy to feed wild animals, acorns and wild nuts of many kinds will be much heavier than usual. Along those same lines, coats of wild animals will be noticeably heavier, squirrels will have bushier tails, etc.
True; some swear by the predictions of the Olde Farmers Almanac.
Our old neighbor on the island used to have a ton of Yankee-truisms...The only one I can remember is charming ... :
**When the apple leaves are as big as mouse’s ears, the black fish are biting off Kelsey Point.**