The 2008 Woolly Worm Report | Chickens in the Road

Oct
7

It’s woolly worm weather time! As the story goes, the longer the middle brown band on a woolly worm, the shorter and milder the coming winter. The shorter the brown band, the longer and snowier. This tale is backed up by studies (really) that put woolly worm accuracy at 57 percent. (Close to your average TV weatherman.)

I am in love with this woolly worm.

See its big brown band? Yep, I’m lovin’ this woolly worm!

Last year, my first woolly worm spotting was a dreadful one with more black than brown. I didn’t like that one very well and tried a woolly worm do-over with the next one. It had a large brown band and I loved it ever so much. How did that work out? Not so good as I was soon experiencing life at 16 degrees in the old farmhouse.

Clearly, it is critical in woolly worm forecasting to go with the first woolly worm of the season. There is something magical, mystical, almost fantastical about that worm. It’s the scout, the leader, the one in the know. So no cheating this year. I’m sticking with my first one, my beloved, my forecaster of a short, mild winter. (This has nothing to do with the fact that I like this woolly’s prediction, of course. OF COURSE. It is simply justified based on last year’s results. THAT IS ALL.)

And you? How are the woolly worms looking in your area?

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61 Responses
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10-7
1:50
am

Coco is so expressive. Romping and tromping in the pond is just her way of letting you know that even though she is hard at work most of the time…there is still time for that playful puppy to emerge.

jan n' tn

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10-7
6:20
am

My first wooly bear was nearly black .

All since have been nice and evenly segregated into black and brown stripes… are you SURE we have to go with the first one? :weather:

Marianne

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10-7
6:38
am

It’s time for wooly worms! I haven’t seen one yet. I will be on the look out!

MissyinWV

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10-7
7:34
am

I thought I was supposed to be looking at onion skins-thanks for the woolly worm tip!

hayseed

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10-7
7:50
am

Wooly worms are something I start looking for in the Fall.
They are few and far between around here.
I always look to see how much black they have, too. Been doing that for years.
Also, looking at the persimmon pit. It’s supposed to be a predictor, too.

Becky

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10-7
8:14
am

We’ve had so much rain I haven’t been on the worm watch yet. I love yours, though. So sweet!

Sarita

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10-7
8:20
am

I don’t know if we have wolly worms here, although we probably do. Are they soft? They look soft. I hope yours is right about the winter!

Stacia

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10-7
8:21
am

Never had heard of ‘woolly worms’ before as winter weather predictors. I will definitely have to look for them and test this theory. I, personally, am hoping for a short and mild winter.

Shari C

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10-7
8:30
am

We call them Wooly Bear Caterpillars here in Md., but I haven’t seen one yet! My daughter needs to bring in a sign of Fall to school, so maybe we can locate one! LOL! Yours is really pretty, though! Very nice coloring! Have a great day! :cool:

MARY

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10-7
8:46
am

:smile: Seen a Wooley yesterday and it was almost black. Yikes

IowaDeb

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10-7
8:49
am

Here in the Cleveland we have a Wolly Bear Parade. We even dress up our kids and dogs as Wolly Bears.

Jeanne

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10-7
8:54
am

My girls have been finding “fuzz balls” for sometime now (thats what my 2 yr. old calls em) we have found some white ones???? not sure what that means???? not sure i want to know!

Mrs.Read

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10-7
9:19
am

Ours are predicting another whopper of an Iowa winter. oh boy.

IowaCowgirl

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10-7
9:22
am

I don’t think I’ve seen one of those up here. I just know I want to toss the farmers almanac away! I don’t like what it said this year! LOL

TeresaH

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10-7
9:26
am

Woolly worms are great predictors! I have seen all black…what does that mean?? Setting by the fire, sippin’ cider, knitting warm woolly socks, eating lots of warm, yummy comfort food, Grandmother’s Bread…piles of quilts…snugglin’…. I can’t wait!!

Susan

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10-7
9:27
am

I haven’t seen one yet. I hope I see one like you have.

Crystal B.

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10-7
9:36
am

I’ve never seen one but I’m going to search the woods today!!!

Jill S.

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10-7
9:57
am

I live 5 miles east of Charleston WV and the wooly worms there are all black.

Mim

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10-7
9:58
am

We found a woolly bear when we were golfing in early September. It was very brown. I happened to post a picture of it and Marianne told me we’d have mild winter. I WAS SO HAPPY. After last winter, with snow from November to APRIL, we’re due. Pacific NW winters are not supposed to be hard.

Yay for finding a woolly bear with a BIG brown band. Woohoo!

:bananadance:

Amy

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10-7
10:04
am

…hmmmmm….
i remember my grandparents saying to look how high up in the trees the pine cones and/or bee hives were – the higher up more snow; down low less snow

Jen

Jen

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10-7
10:07
am

I haven’t see one yet but I’ll be on the lookout. This is a reminder to me to get that snowblower all fired up for it’s winter duties.

Actually, I like snow.

- Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife

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10-7
10:12
am

First you can’t get mad at Coco, after all she looks like she had a grand old time

We saw our first woolly bear about 2 weeks ago. Very skinny and small and basically all black. Yes according to the old Farmers almanac we are suppose to have a snowy winter this year.

hawkswench

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10-7
10:17
am

I have seen two wooley worms recently…one was half brown and half black, no band, and the other was totally all black….very confusing!! I wish they’d get their stories together….

Imogene Birdette

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10-7
10:23
am

Our local weather forecaster said the wooly worms predicted a cold and snowy winter. I expected that anyway. I didn’t know how to look at the colors to do it myself. Next year I will remember. What happens if you find a solid light colored one? They are high in numbers this year in central Illinois. Blessings.

Abiga/karen

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10-7
10:41
am

I WONDER HOW MANY OF YOU LIKE “LEATHER BRITCHES” OR EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE. WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT THIS “KUNTRY-DISH,” I HAVE BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT….

MMHONEY

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10-7
11:12
am

YOU ARE SO TIMELY!! I was just talking about this w/my dh and 2 dd’s…we saw a wooly worm last weekend and my dh & I were trying to remember what a local weather man used to say about them. When we were growing up and local weather guy would always make such a big deal out of the woolies every fall…but we couldn’t remember how the saying went.

Anyway…the 1 we saw had a huge brown middle…BUT…the Old Farmer’s Almanac says that we’re to have very bad, cold, snowy winter. Oh…WHAT to do?! :sick:

Blessings from Ohio…

Kim W

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10-7
12:06
pm

I do n’t know if we even have wooly caterpillars. But there was snow on the mountain the other night, and we’re expecting to get to the low 20s this week. Like Bill Murray said in Groundhog’s Day “I’ll give you a winter prediction: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.” OK, maybe not QUITE, but it’ll feel like it in late February!

Meadowlark

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10-7
12:08
pm

Perhaps it is because I live in farm country in the Midwest but our weatherman has a wooley worm watch each year.

At the beginning of the season, the wooley worms were lighter in color but soon after, they were mostly dark. After last year’s bad winter, I’m hoping we can average the color and have a not-so-hard winter this year!

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks&Me

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10-7
1:14
pm

I’ve never heard of that, and you think I would’ve growing up in Iowa & all. Maybe I just don’t remember….
But I do remember my grandpa always telling me to look at the tails of squirrels. Thick & bushy = COLD, long winter. Skinny & thin = mild winter.

Callie

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10-7
1:38
pm

I love your woolly worms. Never seen one here though. I’m hoping you picked a good one :hellokitty:

Toni Anderson

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10-7
2:26
pm

Never heard of that type of weather prediction before. Where I live we don’t worry about winter anyway but I enjoy tidbits of information such as that.

Carole @ Fowl Visions

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10-7
2:34
pm

I hope your woolly worm is right. I would love a mild winter and so would my pocketbook.

Maureen

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10-7
3:16
pm

No woolly worms here yet!

Estella

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10-7
3:23
pm

There’s a little town in Kentucky that has a Woolly Worm Festival at the end of this month.

J CopperCreekers

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10-7
3:35
pm

Coco looks like she had a good time! I haven’t seen any woolly worms yet. Our weather lady is predicting a cold and snowy winter based on the lack of sun bursts. :fryingpan:

Susan

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10-7
4:19
pm

I have never heard of a woolly worm in my life! LOL That was interesting!
The only thing I ever had to predict weather was this little ceramic type poodle (about 4 inches tall) that my mother bought me in Germany and he would turn colors if it rained or would be sunny or stormy…like from purple to pink to green. LOL
OOOOOOOHHHHH Coco!!!! There you are, sweet pup!!!! Little stinky!!! LOL The pup loves the pond! Ha Cutest puppy! :mrgreen:

Donna

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10-7
4:20
pm

Upon viewing Coco again…it looks like Dukie back there, went too…LOL He’s hiding! LOL Your busted Dukie! Ha

Donna

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10-7
4:56
pm

I’m still on the look out for one of those cuties!!!

catslady

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10-7
5:31
pm

Yeah Coco! More face time on the blog. She’s feeling left out since the chickens, goats and eggs get more blog space than she does. We miss you Coco!!! She’s really getting big, but is still a GIANT PUPPY!

Jodie

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10-7
8:45
pm

Eek! The first one I saw (we always called them Fuzzy Wuzzies) this year was completely black! :weather:

Kalin

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10-7
9:06
pm

In NE Tennessee (4 hours directly south of you), We call them either Wooly Worms or Fuzzie Wuzzies too. I’ve seen one so far… it was almost ALL black. BUT, that’s ok. My DH and kids don’t think it can snow here. I remember the HUGE snowfalls we’d get when I was a kid. I wouldn’t mind seeing one of those again – as long as we had stuff to make tons of Grandmother’s Bread, hot cocoa and cider, comfort food and enough sleds that the kids don’t fight over them. Maybe I need to start a secret snowday stash in the back of the pantry. I doubt if your surrounding area gets snow that you’ll miss it hehe. :weather: :purr:

Patty

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10-7
9:57
pm

Um, I don’t think we have any woolly worms here. But, he’s cute. In a fuzzy bug sort of way. *G*

Brandy

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10-7
10:16
pm

That is so crazy. Where I am from, the wollier the worm the colder the winter. I just love fuzzy caterpillars. We use to have so much fun with them when I was a kid.

Camille Choate

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10-7
10:47
pm

I saw one today – ALL BLACK. Ugh. I had to do a double take because I don’t recall ever seeing an all black one before. Sounds like I’ll be thankful for working from home this winter (in front of the fireplace)!

Emily Harsh

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10-7
10:54
pm

Does anyone know what the wooly worm actually is??? What they do??? etc

mim

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10-9
1:12
pm

I HOPE it’s going to be a short mild winter!

The FringeGirl

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10-12
6:40
pm

This afternoon was the first woolly that I have seen this season. Mostly brown! with a little black on each end. This is good news for the winter in New York State.

Eric

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10-12
8:58
pm

hate to say it, but we found a completely black one last week–when it was 80 degrees outside. We were all so depressed, I think one of the kids threw him under the car–not really. Then this week I saw one that had the regular-sized brown stripe–so now I’ve lost some faith in the whole wooly worm thing…

Netherfieldmom

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10-14
1:56
am

:weather: My Father thinks different..like others. He said Mother Nature, has really been pumping out the grapes, and apples this year…like we are going to have a cold long winter. Nature seems to know things.

makes me wonder :treehugger: ??:

Eric

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10-17
12:20
pm

I just seen my first wolly worm of the season and it stopped me in my tracks lol. It was completely black. I have never seen one like that. I am in Southern IL.

Denise

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10-18
5:04
pm

wooley worm today was red with black on each end.does this mean hard start, mild middle,hard spring? rufus ,lake norman ,nc

ruby f smith

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10-19
7:33
pm

We have tons of them in Wildwood, Missouri. I’ve seen almost all brown with just the tips black and I’ve seen solid black. I see them primarily on the warm sides of the house and barn. Some are pretty small, but I’ve seen some pretty big black ones, too. Brrr.

M Tutt

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10-24
8:57
pm

the very first one I spotted this year was solid black with just a hint of brown at the back end of it.

combine this with the mud dobber tubes that were being built back in mid to late september, I’m thinking that the winter will be cold, snowy and long!

STRIKER

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11-1
6:01
am

My first one was about a month ago (gee, almost when the blog was posted!) and it was all black. I’ve seen more all black or mostly black ones this fall. So, it’s looking like central Indiana will be in for a good winter. I’m thinking we better get on having the wood stove put in!

beth

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11-9
11:24
pm

:weather: My first wooly worm was all black, so was my second and third,,, get ready for a cold long snowy winter!! i’m in maryland and cant wait for the snow!!! :clap:

Bridget

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11-11
7:56
pm

we live in Indiana and have not seen one wooly worm at all and we walk every day and we even go through a woods and still not seen any so what does that mean

berry

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11-15
12:04
pm

I live in Southern Indiana and just picked a TOTALLY BLACK one up from my kitchen floor.

Paul Caudell

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11-30
3:29
pm

I found a wooley worm today, Nov.30,2008 in Louisville, KY and it was solid black! Looks like a harsh winter for those of us in the Ohio Valley!

Michele Crockett

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1-29
3:48
pm

I live in Huntington, WV and have yet to see one. I’m pretty close to Lexington, KY and so far its been a bad winter. The last few days we had 5+ inches and ice to boot. Sounds like a bad winter to me.

Rebecca

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9-4
6:24
am

I’ve heard of woolly worms. They are so cute! But we don’t have them in OK.

Hannah

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10-12
8:50
pm

My first woolly worm this year is ALL black.

Stephanie

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