Woolly bear caterpillars seem to be everywhere these days — creeping across the lawn, along the road when I’m walking the dog, hidden in the wilted cut-back of the perennial garden. Last week I found a woolly bear curled up in a shoe I’d left on the front porch. These fuzzy, black-and-brown-banded caterpillars seem intent these days to get somewhere. Where that is — and how they know — is a mystery. “The purpose for their wanderings is not clear,” said Jack Layne, a biology professor and woolly bear researc … (read more)
