Wooly-Bully Bike Ride

We have written before about why we like to ride and one of our big reasons for climbing on the saddle and venturing out is for the things we see along the way.  We have written about those big flocks of blackbirds, road kill, cemeteries, and much more.  This spring we will ride along with Tiger Moths but we aren’t so much interested in the adult version of the creature, we like the larval state that is just about everywhere this month: the Wooly Bear Caterpillar.  The things are constantly crossing roads this time of year, oftentimes with little success.  They are easily the most recognized caterpillar in North America.  

The things are famous and can thank Dr. C. H. Curran for their fame.  Old Doc Curran took an expedition in 1948 to learn more about these fuzzy beings.  The expedition set out from his home base of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.  He prepared and packed everything he would need for the arduous scientific journey—of forty miles.  As it turns out he didn’t need to go very far.  He even drove himself—and took his wife along.   

Why he filled up a tank of gas and drove up into the Catskills is anybody’s guess.   He could have simply crossed the street and walked a couple of steps into Central Park.  

Anyway, we all know the Wooly Bear with its black-orange-black segments.  Fairly simple construction these things.  But, the little known fact is that the Wooly Bear has an assortment of 13 distinct and unique black-orange-black segmentations.  The orange middle can vary in width, at least 13 different widths to be exact.   Folklore suggests that the skinnier the orange band across the middle the more severe the winter.  Likewise a fat orange band suggests a mild winter.    

Now, does that orange band predict the winter weather?  No, but isn’t folklore great?  That is how we got cool events like Groundhog Day.   A good method of predicting winter weather is to look at the five-day forecast. 

So why are these slow creatures crossing so many roads and sidewalks?  They are looking for a winter home.  They like to spend the cold weather months behind the bark of trees.  There, if is cold enough, they will actually freeze solid.  When spring comes they thaw and wrap themselves in a cozy cocoon and wait a couple weeks until they emerge as full grown moths.  Not long after that they will become a meal for something father up the food chain.  It seems that most insects, like moths and butterflies, are simply on this Earth to be a food source for other animals.  It's a tough way to make a living.  

The last point we will make here is the fact that Wooly Bears are not made of wool.  The wool is in fact hair and the type of hair places them scientifically in the “bristle” family of bristle caterpillars to which there are a few but none as cool as the Wooly Bear.  

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