{"id":4685,"date":"2020-12-04T11:14:31","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T16:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?page_id=4685"},"modified":"2020-12-04T11:14:31","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T16:14:31","slug":"woolly-bear-caterpillars-fact-or-legend","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?page_id=4685","title":{"rendered":"Woolly Bear Caterpillars: Fact or Legend?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?page_id=4685\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"400\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>by Kelsey King<\/p>\n<p>Isabella tiger moth (<em>Pyrrharctia isabella<\/em>), also known as the woolly bear caterpillar, is found all across the United States and Southern Canada. Like most caterpillars, they are herbivores. You can find them later in the Fall munching on plants preparing for their hibernation under the leaves in the forest. A lot of times, you\u2019ll see them crawling across the lawn or the road. These caterpillars not only play a role in\u00a0the ecosystem but in our lives, too. The woolly bear has 13 body segments and there are 13 weeks of winter. This may be why some people believe that these caterpillars are weather predictors.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?attachment_id=4686\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4686\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4686 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.friendsofdykenpond.org\/dykenpond\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-131147_Chrome.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"281\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-131147_Chrome.jpg 963w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-131147_Chrome-290x174.jpg 290w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-131147_Chrome-768x460.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 281px) 100vw, 281px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m sure most of you are aware of the woolly bear\u00a0\u00a0legend. No? Well, according to folklore, this little caterpillar can tell us the weather, and more importantly, how harsh the winter will be. Here\u2019s how:<a href=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?attachment_id=4687\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4687\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4687 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.friendsofdykenpond.org\/dykenpond\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-115006_Pinterest.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"222\" height=\"257\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-115006_Pinterest.jpg 972w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-115006_Pinterest-259x300.jpg 259w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-115006_Pinterest-768x890.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Screenshot_20201203-115006_Pinterest-883x1024.jpg 883w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When you look at a woolly bear, you\u2019ll notice its distinct color pattern; black, brown, black. The longer the black bands, the longer, colder, and snowy it will be. The wider the brown middle band is, the milder the winter will be. If its head has the longer black band, then the beginning of winter will be more severe. If the end has the longer black band, then the end of winter will be harsh.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Are these woolly bears true weather forecasters? Fortunately or sadly, depending on your love or hate for the cold weather, the answer is no. The caterpillar\u2019s colors are actually based on how long it has been feeding, its age, and species. There are 260 species of tiger moths in the United States. The caterpillar molts, or sheds its skin, six times before it becomes an adult moth. As it molts, the more brown and less black you\u2019ll see. Whichever woolly bear colors you find, I hope the winter weather is in your favor!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?attachment_id=4688\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4688\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?attachment_id=4689\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4689\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4689 alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.friendsofdykenpond.org\/dykenpond\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730608478.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"245\" height=\"327\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730608478.jpg 3024w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730608478-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730608478-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?attachment_id=4688\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4688\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4688 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.friendsofdykenpond.org\/dykenpond\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730545905.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"317\" height=\"237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730545905.jpg 4032w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730545905-290x218.jpg 290w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730545905-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/1601730545905-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 317px) 100vw, 317px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Kelsey King Isabella tiger moth (Pyrrharctia isabella), also known as the woolly bear caterpillar, is found all across the United States and Southern Canada. Like most caterpillars, they are herbivores. You can find them later in the Fall munching &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/?page_id=4685\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4685","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4690,"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4685\/revisions\/4690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dykenpond.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}