Answering E-Mails
Lots of great questions and comments during the past few days:
Woollybear caterpillars
I live north of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Picked up an all black, quite bushy Wooly yesterday. It was at the entrance of my sliding door going into the house to escape winter. At least I have new snow tires.
I encountered two today. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both were solid black. I live in St. Louis, MO
I work near Leesburg Virginia.I saw 8 wolly worms heading south today.most had a very thick black coat, longer than a 1/4 inch,with hardly any orange in it.I guess winter is going to stink this year….
Earlier this fall we heard about the bright orange caterpillars, but the tide has turned and more reports are streaming in about these black and bushy critters trying to get inside. Persimmon Seeds
I’m in Springdale, AR and opened up a couple of seeds and they both were split spoons. Here comes the snow!
Have opened several seeds from several trees , in many different areas surrounding Knoxville TN. all spoons here ……. better break out the bibs , looks to b snow in the future.
Warrenton MO - Opened 4 seeds found 4 spoons. First time ever with the persimmon seed, hope they are right, love the snow … let it snow let it snow let it snow !!!!
Here in London, AR. my dad and I found 19 spoons out of 20 total. The other one didnt have anything in it. Looks like snow this year.
The persimmon story goes on and on. As with the last person, I have heard from over 100 people in most parts of the US. I have never seen every seed producing a spoon which is an indicator of heavy snow. Either everyone is in for a pounding or the legend of the persimmon seed will come to an end.
Event Planning
Actually I have a question. I live in a rural area near Franklin, TN and I’m planning to invite a few friends over for a bond fire on Nov. 15 or 22, 2008. Which of those evenings are likely to have the better conditions relating to temperature and precipitation? We are saying “pleasant conditions” for Nov. 15th and “rain” for the 22nd. Stoke up the fire and have fun! Wordsmith
What does PHILOM. mean???? This is the title that follows both Sandi Duncan and my name in the Farmers’ Almanac, It is short for Philomath or Greek for philomathes “loving knowledge”. Philos “loving or fond” + mathein “to learn or understand”. Early editors of almanacs used this title. Ben Franklin wrote as Richard Saunders, Philom. Our first editor was David Young, Philom. For the most part early editors were teachers and considered to be intelligent. Hope that is still the case
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Wollybear Caterpillars, Persimmon Seeds, Philom., Winter Weather, Event Planning
Hello, I live in North Central Indiana and recently visited South Central Indiana. I found out what a persimmon seed looked like and cut one open while there and there was a spoon inside. I didn’t know what one looked like until this year which was pretty cool. I also, while driving this early fall in North Central Indiana, saw lots of solid black whollybears. I also saw a lot of other very dark colored ones too. BRING ON THE SNOW!!! Thanks Joe
Hey! I started seeing SOLID BLACK wooly worms here in Northern Virginia and so did my neice down in the southwestern part of Virginia back in the September 08 timeframe.
They’ve all been near my porch or door as if trying to tell me that they need the refuge!
Honestly, the winds of the last 2 days tell me that something is being usherd in..as the leaves are “turned back on the trees” as if a storm is comin, but its not SUMMER anymore..odd I think…and COLD…
Also, while I usually don’t see many squirrels near my house, again, I’ve seen many and they are burying underneath the pine needles I’ve arranged over the bases of my new trees.
M cats are putting on weight like I’ve never seen before and their fur is thick…has anyone experienced this ?? its more than the usual.
thats it for now…and I’ll keep my eye out for other signs, but all this tells me that we better get prepared with batteries, water, blankets, etc!