Tim Makes the News with Woolly Bears!

 Not only is Tim the owner of the barn where I keep Abby, but he and his wife, Loni, are some of our dearest friends. We see them a lot between barn and church, plus Loni worked with Craig until he retired.

Craig, Tim, and Loni when we all hiked out to a Great Blue Heron rookery for some bird watching together.

A professor of entomology here at Purdue, Tim was interviewed this week by the Indianapolis Star for an article about woolly bears and the legend behind them.

Tim giving Abby a trim.

Hailing from western Canada, that "Canadian cowboy" surfaced at times in the article and made me smile when I read it. (He mentioned the horses, too!) Some cut and paste pieces are below; click the link above if you want to see the whole article. Enjoy!

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Purdue entomology professor Timothy Gibb said besides entomologists, people don't notice woolly bears until September. Then, they're everywhere.

"They migrate from the plants that they've been feeding on and for some inexplicable reason, they decide they've got to move," Gibb said. "I can park on the road and see one going one direction and another going the other direction, and they're just bootin' along. They don't even stop to say hi to each other. They're on a race to somewhere, but nobody knows where."

Despite the randomness of the caterpillars' travels, Gibb said it's safe to assume they're looking for a place to stay the winter.

Stories about the woolly bear's ability to drop some prophetic winter knowledge mostly seem to center on the caterpillars' stripes, as noted above from the National Weather Service. 

Gibbs said just based on the unscientific nature of measuring the stripes alone, the folklore isn't true. But he isn't against it either.

"I'm kind of in favor of having some folklore; it's fun," Gibb said. "But on the same token, there's not a chance that these are smart enough to predict the weather. We have meteorologists that are employed, that go to school a long time and still can't predict the weather, how do you expect this little insect to do it?"

Gibb said while it may be possible the hair on the caterpillars' bodies also plays a role in keeping them warm, there isn't any scientific evidence of it. Woolly bears' natural antifreeze and their instinct to burrow under leaves and other organic debris are their real survival tools. Gibb, who has horses, said he sees the woolly bears asleep during the winter months under hay in his barn.

Woolly bears can be irresistible to touch, especially for children, and Gibb said although some fuzzy caterpillars have stinging hairs that are poisonous, black and brown woolly bears are not toxic and can be touched without fear.

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Tim laughing at Abby - she'd fallen asleep during her hoof-icure!