I nearly stepped on this caterpillar while hiking in early January. Legend has it the area between the black stripes on the woolly bugger or woolly bear caterpillar indicates how mild or harsh the winter will be. The larger the area between the black stripes the milder the winter is supposed to be. Since the rear black stripe can’t even been seen in this photo the caterpillar prediction is for a pretty mild winter.
Doug Couvillion's Photo Blog 