Leave the Predictions to Weatherbug, Not Woolly Bears!

The wide reddish-brown band on this woolly bear caterpillar could raise false hopes of a mild winter.  All the wide brown band tells you is that this caterpillar is mature and well fed.  That's good preparation for this creature as it crosses a bike path to seek shelter for the winter.  The caterpillar can survive even frozen solid.  (Photo by Don Comis)

On my annual walk from Kenyon College to my home in Apple Valley, using the Koksosing Gap Trail for 4.5 miles of the approximately 8-mile walk, I saw my first all-black caterpillar—well, actually I saw two of them, along with a few woolly bear caterpillars.

I probably had seen black caterpillars before but thought they were woolly bear caterpillars predicting a totally bad winter.   But I've learned that the width of the middle reddish-brown band on the brown and black woolly bears being a predictor of the severity of the upcoming winter is a myth.  Ironically it was started by a scientist, but later disproved.  Now scientists know that the only thing more brown on a woolly bear means is that the woolly bear is older, or  better fed, or both.

 The caterpillars are born mostly black and the brown band grows wider as the caterpillar gets bigger, with age and diet.

Since I saw two of these all-black caterpillars on Nov. 10, I believe they  are the caterpillars of the giant leopard tiger moth,not woolly bears--which become Isabella moths next year.   (Photo by Don Comis)

I also learned that woolly bears become Isabella tiger moths in the spring.   I found that out when I sent a photo of a woolly bear to the “Butterflies and Moths of North America” website and added that moth to my list of 111 moth species in Knox County, mostly found in Apple Valley.

But, fortuitously, the day before my big walk on Monday, Nov.10, I read a column in the Sunday Columbus Dispatch by John Switzer, one of my two favorite Nature columnists in the Sunday paper. Switzer was describing his daily walks in the country in November and mentions not only the woolly bear-Isabella connection, but also the fact that the all-black caterpillars become giant leopard tiger moths.  He quotes my other favorite Columbus Dispatch columnist, Jim McCormac, as saying that this moth is quite attractive.  McCormac, whose blog convinced me to use “blogspot.com” for my blog, also told Switzer that almost all the furry caterpillars we see in the fall turn into one of the many species of tiger moths.

Switzer says that in addition to black and brown, the furry fall caterpillars also come in blond and reddish-blonde.   At Apple Valley, I've seen two different species that are white—the banded tussock or pale tiger moth and the hickory tussock or hickory tiger moth.  I managed to photograph both the caterpillar and moth stages of the hickory tiger moth.

Certainly if Switzer, a former weather columnist, had any hopes left of a mild winter after seeing a woolly bear with a wide brown band, it's gone as the second snow of the season is falling tonight, one that could bring 2 to 3 inches--and be followed by below zero nights!  The snow came earlier than usual this year, with Cleveland getting 8 to 10 inches recently.

But then what does a woolly bear care about weather when it can survive the winter frozen solid?

The funny thing is that the very first blog I wrote, on Nov. 6, 2013, was on the woolly bear’s inability to predict weather.  Up to recently it had remained in the top five most popular of my postings, until the weekly mastodon reports wiped it and all other topics out of the top five.

White is one of the many colors the furry tiger moth caterpillars come in, depending on the species.  This is the hickory tiger moth caterpillar.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Note:  I also have a website where I post information and photos on archaeology finds as well as all other aspects of natural history.  This blog and website began to catch the spillover from the monthly stories I write for the Apple Valley Cider Press, mainly a regular "Nature Article" feature.

Eat or be Eaten

I finally took a long solo walk today, from my house in Apple Valley to a pond by a strip mall near the entrance to our development.

I watched birds and photographed butterflies and flowers along the way.   I found my way through woods to the pond and worked my way to my favorite spot, sitting on rocks near a channel of the pond.

There are rocks there that are easy to sit on, by the water's edge.  Dragonflies like to rest on these rocks too, especially the "common whitetail" male dragonflies.  I watched at least one patrol the shoreline for other males in its 30 feet of territory and for prey.

Prey seemed the name of the game on that pond, as bullfrogs and likely green frogs croaked as they waited for a meal of dragonflies or other bugs.  A red-tailed hawk sailed overhead looking for food, while two little birds harassed it, maybe to save their young from becoming a meal.  Two vultures soared too, one looking as those something had taken a bite out of one wing.  Two large fish cruised looking for food.   A muskrat or beaver swam by once.

A male "common whitetail" dragonfly characteristically resting on rocks near me today.   (Photo by Don Comis) 

On my way to the pond, I had seen a robin feed a young bird.

I soon became hungry myself and stopped at a general store at the mall and got something to eat!

Clouded Sulphur butterfly seen on my walk, in the grass by the Apple Valley Lake dam I believe.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Red Admiral butterfly--I think; I didn't get a good view unfortunately.  This was right near me as I rested on the rocks by the pone.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Red-tailed hawk like the one I saw at the pond today, but this photo was taken about 2 years ago, elsewhere in Apple Valley.  (Photo by Don Comis)

I believe these are frog eggs; they are in the channel of the pond, near where I sat and heard frogs.  (Photo by Don Comis)

One of two mystery fishes I see a lot n the pond, near the channel.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Two of the three shy turtles sunning themselves on the Apple Valley Lake spillway, until they spot me!  (Photo by Don Comis)

Last of the three turtles to dive back into the water after seeing me at a great distance.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Salamander Search Yields Only Calls from Great Horned Owl and Sheriff's Office

Northern dusky salamander found under shale rock in shale seepage area near Little Jelloway Creek, near Apple Valley, on August 1, 2013.  (Photo by Don Comis)

April is here, the buds are turning green on my neighbor's shrub, the daytime temperatures are pretty warm--but still it feels like March going out like a lion.  As the winds picked up and the temperatures fell around 6 tonight, it felt really cold.


This gives me an excuse to skip a night search for the salamander migration tonight.


I spent about two and a half hours last night listening for woodcocks the first half hour and then sitting on a bench by the Kokosing River looking for migrating salamanders for an hour.  Nothing, but I did get to hear a call I think came from a Great Horned owl.


My other surprise was getting a call from the sheriff's office after a deputy saw my car late at night in an isolated parking lot.  He used my license plate to call my wife and check to see I was ok.  She gave him my cell phone number and I returned his call and explained what I was doing, or tried to.  My wife and I both thanked the sheriff's office for checking on me.


It's another example of what can happen to zealous naturalists.  I have an even better story about that I'll tell someday!


That call and the dense fog on the way home late last night also makes me glad that conditions don't seem right for salamanders tonight. 

Hope for Salamander Migration Soon

One of the first salamanders I've captured and learned to photograph as they "escape" the container I place them in.  I photographed this northern red on July 28, 2013, along Little Jelloway Creek near Apple Valley.  (Photo by Don Comis)

Probably the first frog I've photographed successfully.  This northern leopard frog was quite a ham, once I learned I couldn't use the salamander release trick to photograph him or her.  He would just jump out of sight when the container was opened.  So I just followed him along the banks of the Kokosing River in Millwood, Ohio, until he "froze",  hoping I wouldn't see him.  (Photographed on August 7, 2013 by Don Comis)

Jim McCormac's blog last night gave me hope that I still have a shot at seeing the mass migration of salamanders to vernal pools where they mate and lay eggs.  He confirms that this tough winter has delayed the mass migration, while individual salamanders and frogs have made the trip.

But the mass migration triggered by the combination of night, rain, and warm temperatures hasn't happened yet.  He believes it will happen in a week or two.  Right now, I'm guessing Thursday or Friday, based on weather forecasts.

In taking a back route the other day to a pond near my house to photograph a flock of redhead ducks, canvasbacks, and scaups, I found a mini-pond near wet woodland near the big pond.  This mini-pond is much bigger than the vernal pool I'm looking at in Gambier, Ohio.  Last year, I dismissed it when it looked only like a drainage gully.  The major snows of this winter must have swelled this vernal pool, if that's what it is.

I can confirm it by asking questions of the neighbors of the pool or by checking for eggs or waiting to see if it dries up in late summer as vernal pools do.   If it turns out to be one, it would be the first vernal pool I found on m own.  And it will be in my neighborhood, which I wished for.

This was the best I could do as I hid from this skittish flock of redheads, canvasbacks, and scaups on a recent evening.  The possible vernal pool in my neighborhood is near this full-sized pond.  (Photo by Don Comis)