Chestnut Ridge & woolly bears

A couple of weeks ago (yes, I'm seriously behind on posting!) the Bachsters and I went to Chestnut Ridge Metro Park, just outside of Columbus, Ohio, to take some pictures of the Commit to be Fit hike taking place there.  It was a warm Fall afternoon, the kind where you don't really need your jacket.  And the kind that brings out the woolly bears, much to our delight!

Last Fall, we had found a woolly bear, kept him in our mesh butterfly house and watched him hibernate all winter.  Sadly, he never came out of hibernation in the Spring, so we placed him under our pine trees and hoped that he was just being extremely sleepy.  So, this year, I told the Bachsters that we would just hold any woolly bears that we might find, but not try to keep them long term.  I have a "brown thumb" when it comes to woolly bears, apparently!

Well, on our hike each Bachster found a woolly bear just for his or herself.  And our woolly bears hiked with us the entire time we were at the park.  When we let them go at the end of our walk, they just instinctively knew which direction to head.

 

Did you know that you are supposed to be able to predict the weather based on how thick the brown band on a woolly bear is?  According to the woolly bears we found, it's going to be a mild winter.  One can only hope!

-Cheryl