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Look at the Wooly Worm I found! Long winter or short?
Mother Nature

Posted on 11/04/2001 5:23:53 PM PST by lawgirl

Yesterday I was cleaning my house, and I went to pick up what I thought was a piece of cardboard box. It was a wooly worm!! (An inch-long caterpillar that looks and feels like a thick pipe cleaner and appears in the autumn.) After screaming, dropping him and probably scaring him half to death, I called my husband to come and pick him up (hehe). Anyway, we both noticed what huge brown stripe he had on his back. Growing up in Iowa, I remember there was an old Indian's tale about being able to predict what the winter was going to be like by how thick the brown stripe was on the back of the wooly worm, but I can't remember how it goes. Does a thick stripe mean a long winter or a mild one??? I would love it if someone could "read the wooly worm" and tell me which way it is! Anyway, here is a photo of him- isn't he cute?



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To: unix
It snowed a little bit in Boone, N.C. on the 26th.
61 posted on 11/04/2001 7:58:08 PM PST by Howlin
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To: katze
"...get a visit from the PETA gang..."


Shouldn't that be the PETW folks (if not, then maybe the PETI) ??

62 posted on 11/04/2001 7:58:38 PM PST by Alabama_Wild_Man
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To: error99
Why, madam, I'm certain that you must have taken what I said the wrong way... (wink)

Oh I know you much better than that. *guilty grin* check out post #58 and click the link.

63 posted on 11/04/2001 7:59:59 PM PST by BigWaveBetty
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To: BigWaveBetty
OMG! lmao! I can't believe someone did that to their cat! I couldn't even read past the first page... that was enough information!
64 posted on 11/04/2001 8:02:06 PM PST by Wake up and smell the cheese
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To: Wake up and smell the cheese
so I changed my screen name. I'm an oldie.

LOL! I think the unwritten rule is that you can never change your screen name without going through a new "newbie" period. That's why I have never seriously considered changing to a more creative screen name. I couldn't handle the loss of "seniority," such as it is!

65 posted on 11/04/2001 8:02:51 PM PST by LJLucido
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To: LJLucido
I think the unwritten rule is that you can never change your screen name without going through a new "newbie" period.

Ah FOOEY!!!!!!!!!

66 posted on 11/04/2001 8:04:17 PM PST by Wake up and smell the cheese
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To: LJLucido
But it's a great name... isn't it! He,he,he!
67 posted on 11/04/2001 8:05:18 PM PST by Wake up and smell the cheese
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To: JudyB1938
LOL you are such fun. hhahaha
68 posted on 11/04/2001 9:14:36 PM PST by Snow Bunny
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To: lawgirl
ROTFL....... I have a cat and a dog. This so hilarious.
69 posted on 11/04/2001 9:16:33 PM PST by Snow Bunny
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To: BigWaveBetty
Hahahahahahahah hahahahahaha TOO Funny !!!!!!
70 posted on 11/04/2001 9:17:46 PM PST by Snow Bunny
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To: Dallas
"Our house is being totally over-run with woolyworms, and scorpions. "

I think the scorpions come into the house to eat the woolyworms. Very disgusting. Once we found a rattlesnake in the house!! But it was just a baby. We have critters around here because we live by a State Park. A few summers ago our neighbors let their kids play on the driveway after sundown. They heard a hissing and ran in the house. It turned out to be a BIG rattlesnake. Of course this is Texas, everybody got thier guns and we had a rattlesnake roundup. Those things are hard to kill.

71 posted on 11/04/2001 9:22:11 PM PST by Theresa
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To: TexanMom
I think I have been stung by them. It's wierd. Suddenly you get this sharp pain. And you think what was THAT?
72 posted on 11/04/2001 9:24:47 PM PST by Theresa
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To: lawgirl
LOL per post #29! (What a cute kitty!) By the way, I've never seen a Wooly Worm before. He's cute!
73 posted on 11/04/2001 9:29:45 PM PST by Fraulein
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To: lawgirl
He's cool. Don't be mean to him.
74 posted on 11/04/2001 9:32:39 PM PST by The KG9 Kid
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To: Keith in Iowa
From that link you posted...

"There's evidence," he says, "that the number of brown hairs has to do with the age of the caterpillar -- in other words, how late it got going in the spring. The [band] does say something about a heavy winter or an early spring. The only thing is . . . it's telling you about the previous year."

75 posted on 11/04/2001 9:39:50 PM PST by petuniasevan
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To: Alabama_Wild_Man
You got me on that one. ;-) Ooooh, now I got it.
76 posted on 11/04/2001 11:54:43 PM PST by katze
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To: lawgirl
Wooly worms appear in a variety of colors
77 posted on 11/05/2001 12:09:49 AM PST by let freedom sing
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To: lawgirl
I live in KY. We have more wooly worms than any year I can think of . I am 52. Yes, we have a bunch, just like yours. I never gave it a thought, until , you brought it up. I am not sure what kind of winter that would represent. We have all colors here. I guess we would have the type of winter, depending which, wooly worm you chose. Blonde, Lt.Brown,Med.Brown,etc.
78 posted on 11/05/2001 12:25:13 AM PST by auggy
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To: lawgirl
LOL ! Good break from the insanity here...........

If you look closely at wooly worms, you may notice that they aren't all one color. Sometimes they have black hairs on each side of a reddish brown band. Heavy black on the front supposedly means a hard winter while red velvet on the rear means a mild winter.

Or if the wooly has a wide center of brown, then it will be mild winter all the way. If they are light colored in the front and dark in the back, it will be mild and then harsh.

What happens if you can't tell the difference between the front and back of the worm? You'll be just like the rest of us and won't really know what to expect.

Based on what I see in the Pic......I'd buy a parka and a new snow shovel for Hubby :o) .......

Stay Safe !

79 posted on 11/05/2001 12:27:30 AM PST by Squantos
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To: Pokey78
Gore is just crying out for a turban there...
80 posted on 11/05/2001 12:43:28 AM PST by piasa
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