These are Wooly Bear caterpillars (or are they?) from my backyard, three of four I found last Saturday as I mowed my lawn for what I hope is the last time this year. I’d found one the previous week, but I just let him go in a safe place. I had different plans for these guys, especially since I hadn’t started mowing where I found them and didn’t want to puree them.

Naturally, these little critters exhibited varying degrees of excitement with my plan of taking their photo so I could see what this portends for the upcoming winter – apparently that’s a thing. I decided I’d like to get a photo of the four of them lined up for a pseudo-scientific comparison, and that’s where things went awry.

I’m sure you must have heard the phrase, “as difficult as herding cats” – well, I’m beginning to suspect that’s short for “herding caterpillars“, because it’s nearly impossible. I’m not sure I even want to know how much time I spent trying, and I’m too embarrassed to tell you my best estimate. In my defense, it takes immense concentration to attempt such a feat, so it’s easy to lose track of time before snapping to one’s senses and resuming one’s yardwork chores.

First off, I had two Turbo Caterpillars, one total spaz, and one apparent stoner to work with. The stoner was the easiest, the spaz was always heading in his own meandering direction, and I spent much of my time just trying to keep the sprinters from getting out of reach – all while holding a heavy camera in my other hand.

I give up: this is the best I could do. Left to right: Spaz, Turbo One and Two, and Stoner. At least they’re all facing the right direction, which was a victory in itself. I’d burned a good chunk of daylight on this, and it was time to hop back on the tractor and take care of the rest the lawn. My wife built a little terrarium habitat for them, stocked it with fresh plants, and we put them inside. I’m not sure if that’s the best thing for them or not, but it buys us some time to research and determine our next steps for the little fuzzies.

What do you think? This is Caterpillar Number One, the catch-and-release from a week ago. He seems to indicate that we’ll have a harsh winter which starts hard and finishes mild. I’ll have to check with my friends at the Bismarck NWS Office to see what they say – there’s a winter weather briefing coming up – and compare that to The Bismarck Bubble and see how they all agree with what the many bones I’ve broken say. One thing’s for sure…winter’s on its way. Sigh…