Woolly Worms

The true name of these are..  Woolly Bear Caterpillar 

Familiar since Colonial times as the "Woolly Bear," the caterpillar is often seen crossing roads and paths on warm days in late fall. According to superstition, the amount of black in the caterpillar's bristle coating forecasts the severity of the coming winter.

Actually, the coloration indicates how near the caterpillar is to full growth before autumn weather stimulates it to seek a winter shelter.

Isabella Tiger Moth

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the longer the middle brown band, the milder and shorter the coming winter; the shorter the brown band, the longer and more severe winter will be.

For decades, people have taken this folklore to heart, even holding festivals - like the Woolly Bear Festival in Vermilion, Ohio, and the Woolly Worm Festival in Banner Elk, N.C. - to honor the caterpillar's knack for predicting the weather. But the myth, says Ohio State University Extension entomologist Barbara Bloetscher, is nothing more than that and holds little, if any, scientific weight.

The truth behind the woolly bear's band length actually has more to do with age than with predicting the weather. As the caterpillar prepares to overwinter, the caterpillar molts, becoming less black and more reddish-brown as it ages. Woolly bears overwinter from September to May, and are commonly found along nature trails and wooded edges and crossing sidewalks and roadways seeking overwintering sites.

They even have a Woollybear Festival in Ohio..

OK You are starting to soound like CC when she talks about computers.

Bottom line

With what J4F wrote   is it going to be good or bad.

And I do not mean for the snow plowers.

LOL the WoollyBears really have no effect it is just really folklore..

OK But for us hillybilly type Andersonians/Hoosiers  WHAT DOES IT MEAN for people not adding additional income to their family budget by plowing snow

There are 13 segments in a typical banded woolybear, they argue that each segment represents one week of winter. Orange segments predict mild weeks, and black ones foretell bad winter weather .. count the starting bands of orange for the first part of winter, then the middle black for the hardest weeks of weather, then the remaining ones for the end of winter... 

All, as is Ole' Wives tales.. never proven scientifically to ever be completely accountable for the winter weather to come.. No different than seeing a thick coat on a Horse, Goat, or Cow and judging it to be a bad winter to come..

Here is another Link to read,  check it for your enjoyment... 

Woolly Worms and Weather 

OK all that aside   She said they were black from the cursoy read of above that means the snow plowing folks are going make a killing

Many are black throughout, or yellow throughout, this again does not forecast a bad Winter..

 Although, you are correct in the fact that Someone that has a Snowplow would be overjoyed with a heavy snow fall of, oh.. say... 6"-8" every week to ten days for about 6 weeks...

Would be of Great help to the livelihood of a Family with the payments for a

''When New'' $6,000.00 Plow..

My type can be found for $3500.00-$4000.00 used. 

And then a  ''New to them'' used Truck of $4900.00..

Along with the gas bill for a 9 mile per gallon truck to haul the plow & then push the Snow.. 

Qualifying that truck for the "Cash For Clunkers" if it was purchased 35 days sooner than it was.. "Has been registered in your name and insured consistent with state law continuously for at least one year, immediately prior to the trade-in date"

Selling my other truck and buying this one was a mistake at the time unknown to me.. 

So, now back on topic..  anytime I see one of those Wollybears crossing the road.. I make sure I swerve to hit miss it.. ensuring another crop of the little furry critters..