Iowa Winter Predictions of Fuzzy Caterpillars

On a recent walk at Squaw Creek Park, I notice plenty of the popular fuzzy caterpillars known as the "Wooly Bear" Caterpillar.

According to the Old Farmers Almanac you can predict how bad the winter weather is going to be by the color and width of the bands on these little critters.

On the Almanac's website it clearly states: If the rusty band is wide, then it will be a mild winter. The more black there is, the more severe the winter. 

I took these pictures of three different fuzzy caterpillars, all within a bug's walking distance from each other.

The first guy (ABOVE) is almost all rusty and seems to tell us, its going to be a very mild winter.

The next guy is little less optimistic, showing a little bit of a black band, front and back.

But the third caterpillar is almost all black with a small band of rusty brown in the middle - and even that has a black band in it!

Holy cow, I think I can feel a snowstorm coming already!! Hurry!! Stock up on milk and bread!!

Sheesh....predicting the weather these days is like politics -- no one can seem to agree on anything!

[source: Old Farmers Almanac]