Will winter be severe? Maybe woolly bear knows.

The banded woolly bear caterpillar is said to forecast the severity of the coming winter. Supposedly, the wider the reddish-brown centre band, the milder the coming winter. Of course, there is a more prosaic explanation; the reddish-brown band simply gets a little wider each time the banded woolly bear molts and these caterpillars can shed their skin about six times before reaching full size.

At this time of year, banded wooly bears are a common sight in London, Ontario. This one was caught crawling over a decorative squash in front of my home on Halloween. The caterpillars are easily spotted crawling over concrete sidewalks or crawling on walls as they seek shelter from the coming winter whether mild or severe.