The woolly bear caterpillar—with its 13 distinct segments of
black and reddish-brown—has the reputation of being able to
forecast the coming winter weather. Here are the history, facts,
and lore about this legendary caterpillar. How the Woolly Bear
Became "Famous" - In the fall of 1948, Dr. C. H. Curran, curator
of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York
City, took his wife 40 miles north of the city to Bear Mountain
State Park to look at woolly bear caterpillars. - Dr. Curran
collected as many caterpillars as he could in a day, determined
the average number of reddish-brown segments, and forecast the
coming winter weather through a reporter friend at The New York
Herald Tribune. - Dr. Curran's experiment, which he continued
over the next eight years, attempted to prove scientifically a
weather rule of thumb that was as old as the hills around Bear
Mountain. The resulting publicity made the woolly bear the most
recognizable caterpillar in North America. What is the Woolly
Bear? The cater