Woolly Worm Caterpillars and Winter Forecasts and Folklore

Woolly Worm Caterpillars and Winter Forecasts and Folklore Every October, NOAAs Climate Prediction Center releases a winter outlook to give the public the best possible scientific prediction of how the winter may shape up across the nation; but in the pre-NOAA days, folks got this same information from a more humble sourcethe Woolly Bear caterpillar.  Ã‚   Called woolly bears in the Midwest and Northeast, and woolly worms in the Southern U.S., Woolly Bear caterpillars are the larvae of Isabella tiger moths. Theyre common to the United States, northern Mexico, and the southern third of Canada, and are easily recognized by their short, stiff bristles of reddish-brown  and black fur. How to Read a Woollys Colors According to folklore, the woolly worms coloring is said to indicate how severe  the coming winter will be in the local area  where the caterpillar  is found.  The Woolly Bear caterpillars body  has 13 distinct segments. According to weather lore, each one corresponds to one of the 13 weeks of winter. Each black band  represents one week of colder, snowier, and more severe winter conditions, whereas orange bands indicate  that many weeks of milder temperatures. (Some even believe that the position of the bands which part of winter. For example, if the tail end of the caterpillar is black, it means that winters end will be severe.)  Ã‚   Two other versions  of this folklore exist. The first relates the severity of winter to  the thickness of the caterpillars coat. (Thicker coats signal  colder winters, and a sparse coat, milder winters.)  The final  variation deals with the direction in which the caterpillar  crawls. (If a woolly crawls in a southerly direction it means hes trying to escape the cold winter conditions of the north. If he travels on a northward path, that indicates a mild winter.)    Significance of Solid-Colored Woolly Worms Not all woolly worms have alternating orange  and black markings. Occasionally, youll spot one thats all brown, all black, or solid white. Like their brown and black relatives, they too have : Orange:  Just as reddish-brown segments signal a week of mild temperatures, an all brown caterpillar  suggests  an overall mild winter with above-normal temperatures and insignificant snowfall.Black: An all black caterpillar  signals the onset of a very hard upcoming winter.White (sand-colored): White woolly worms are said to predict winter snowfall. Spotting one is supposedly a strong indicator that heavier than average snows   or even a blizzard   can be expected in the region during the winter season.   How Fame Found the Woolly Worm The woolly worms talent was first discovered in the late 1940s by Dr. Charles Curran, former curator of insects at New York City’s Museum of Natural History. As the story goes, Dr. Curran measured the coloration of woolly bear caterpillars between 1948 and 1956  at  Bear Mountain State Park. During those years, he found that 5.3 to 5.6 of the observed caterpillars 13 body segments were  orange. As his counts suggested, the winters for each of those years turned out to  indeed be  mild.  A reporter friend of Currans leaked his  forecasts to a NYC newspaper,  and  the  publicity the story  generated made woolly  bear caterpillars a household name. Is the Folklore True? Dr. Curran found that the width of reddish-brown fur correctly matched the winter type with 80% accuracy. While his data samples were small, for some people this was enough to legitimize  the folklore.  However, for the majority of todays  professionals, it isnt sufficient data. They argue that not only is a woolly bears coloring  based on its age and species, but also  that it would take researching an awful lot of caterpillars in one place over a great many years in order to make any conclusions about  woollys and  winter weather. One thing most can agree on is that regardless of whether or not the folklore is true,  its a harmless and fun autumn tradition to take part in. When and Where  to Spot  Woolly Worms Woolly worms are usually seen  in autumn  on sidewalks and  roadways.  If you do meet one, dont expect it to hang around for long. Woollys are busy creatures, always on-the-go  searching for a cozy home underneath a rock or log to overwinter in. They  move  pretty fast too (as worms go)!  Ã‚   One sure-fire  way to meet a woolly is to attend a  woolly worm festival. 2016  Woolly Worm Festivals Like  the  groundhog, woolly worms have become so  popular, several festivals have sprouted up across the United States to honor them. The  longest-running festivals are celebrated in:   Vermilion, Ohio. Ohios annual  Woollybear Festival  is one of the longest-running in the US. The festival started more than four decades ago, when  TV weatherman, Mr. Dick Goddard, proposed the idea of a celebration built around using the worm to forecast the upcoming winter. He still hosts the festival to this day.  This years festival is scheduled to be held October 2, 2016. Banner Elk, North  Carolina.  Held every third weekend in October.  This years 39th Annual Woolly Worm festival dates are October 15-16, 2016.   Beattyville, Kentucky. Beattyvilles Woolly Worm Festival is always the last full weekend in October.  This years 29th annual festival will take place October 21-23,  2016.   Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Currently in its 19th year, this years festival will take place on October 15, 2016. If youre a fan of woolly worm festivals, let us also recommend these weather-focused festivals.

George Catlin, Biography of Painter of Native Americans

George Catlin, Biography of Painter of Native Americans The American artist George Catlin became fascinated with Native Americans in the early 1800s and traveled extensively throughout North America so he could document their lives on canvas. In his paintings and writings, Catlin portrayed Indian society in considerable detail. â€Å"Catlin’s Indian Gallery,† an exhibit which opened in New York City in 1837, was an early opportunity for people living in an eastern city to appreciate the lives of the Indians still living freely and practicing their traditions on the western frontier. The vivid paintings produced by Catlin were not always appreciated in his own time. He tried to sell his paintings to the U.S. government and was rebuffed. But eventually he was recognized as a remarkable artist and today many of his paintings reside in the Smithsonian Institution and other museums. Catlin wrote of his travels. And he is credited with first proposing the idea of National Parks  in one of his books.  Catlins proposal came decades before the US government would create the first National Park. Early Life George Catlin was born in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on July 26, 1796. His mother and grandmother had been held hostage during an Indian uprising in Pennsylvania known as the Wyoming Valley Massacre some 20 years earlier, and Catlin would have heard many stories about Indians as a child. He spent much of his childhood wandering in the woods and searching for Indian artifacts. As a young man, Catlin trained to be a lawyer, and he briefly practiced law in Wilkes Barre. But he developed a passion for painting. By 1821, at the age of 25, Catlin was living in Philadelphia and trying to pursue a career as a portrait painter. While in Philadelphia Catlin enjoyed visiting the museum administered by Charles Wilson Peale, which contained numerous items related to Indians and also to the expedition of Lewis and Clark. When a delegation of western Indians visited Philadelphia, Catlin painted them and decided to learn all he could of their history. In the late 1820s, Catlin painted portraits, including one of New York governor DeWitt Clinton. At one point Clinton gave him a commission to create lithographs of scenes from the newly opened Erie Canal, for a commemorative booklet. In 1828 Catlin married Clara Gregory, who was from a prosperous family of merchants in Albany, New York. Despite his happy marriage, Catlin desired to venture off see the west. Western Travels In 1830, Catlin realized his ambition to visit the west and arrived in St. Louis, which was then the edge of the American frontier. He met William Clark, who, a quarter-century earlier, had led the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean and back. Clark held an official position as the superintendent of Indian affairs. He was impressed by Catlin’s desire to document Indian life and provided him with passes so he could visit Indian reservations. The aging explorer shared with Catlin an extremely valuable piece of knowledge, Clark’s map of the West. It was, at the time, the most detailed map of North America west of the Mississippi. Throughout the 1830s Catlin traveled extensively, often living among the Indians. In 1832 he began to paint the Sioux, who were at first highly suspicious of his ability to record detailed images on paper. However, one of the chiefs declared that Catlin’s â€Å"medicine† was good, and he was allowed to paint the tribe extensively. Catlin often painted portraits of individual Indians, but he also depicted daily life, recording scenes of rituals and even sports. In one painting Catlin depicts himself and an Indian guide wearing the pelts of wolves while crawling in the prairie grass to closely observe a herd of buffalo. Catlins Indian Gallery In 1837 Catlin opened a gallery of his paintings in New York City, billing it as â€Å"Catlin’s Indian Gallery.† It could be considered the first â€Å"Wild West† show, as it revealed the exotic life of the Indians of the west to city dwellers. Catlin wanted his exhibit to be taken seriously as historical documentation of Indian life, and he endeavored to sell his collected paintings to the US Congress. One of his great hopes was that his paintings would be the centerpiece of a national museum devoted to Indian life. The Congress was not interested in purchasing Catlin’s paintings, and when he exhibited them in other eastern cities they were not as popular as they had been in New York. Frustrated, Catlin left for England, where he found success showing his paintings in London. Decades later, Catlins obituary on the front page of the New York Times noted that in London he had reached great popularity, with members of the aristocracy flocking to see his paintings.   Catlin’s Classic Book on Indian Life In 1841 Catlin published, in London, a book titled Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Conditions of the North American Indians. The book, more than 800 pages in two volumes, contained a vast wealth of material gathered during Catlin’s travels among the Indians. The book went through a number of editions. At one point in the book Catlin detailed how the enormous herds of buffalo on the western plains were being destroyed because robes made of their fur had become so popular in eastern cities. Perceptively noting what today we would recognize as an ecological disaster, Catlin made a startling proposal. He suggested that the government should set aside enormous tracts of western lands to preserve them in their natural state. George Catlin can thus be credited with first suggesting the creation of National Parks. His Later Life Catlin returned to the United States and again tried to get the Congress to buy his paintings. He was unsuccessful. He was swindled in some land investments and was in financial distress. He decided to return to Europe. In Paris, Catlin managed to settle his debts by selling the bulk of his collection of paintings to an American businessman, who stored them in a locomotive factory in Philadelphia. Catlin’s wife died in Paris, and Catlin himself moved on to Brussels, where he would live until returning to America in 1870. Catlin died in Jersey City, New Jersey in late 1872. His obituary in the New York Times lauded him for his work documenting Indian life and criticized the Congress for not buying his collection of paintings. The collection of Catlin paintings stored in the factory in Philadelphia was eventually acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, where it resides today. Other Catlin works are in museums around the United States and Europe.