Woolly worm: Richard Hannon captured a video of a woolly worm on a mission on Saturday. Despite its fast pace and obviously busy schedule, The Era staff managed to capture a screenshot of the fellow.

The woolly worm is also known as the woolly bear, fuzzy bear or Hedgehog Caterpillar, because of its tendency to curl up in a ball and “play dead” when threatened.

According to lore, the fuzzy crawler has 13 segments to its body, and therefore its color combinations are a precursor to the 13 weeks of winter ahead.

Looking at the woolly bear, if its head is dark, the beginning of winter will be “severe,” while the other end of the bear being dark means cold just before spring. Both of these look to be true for us, based on our friend in the photo. There are other versions of this prediction, however: the look of the coat and the direction of travel. If the woolly bear’s coat is very full, the winter will be cold. Based on this one, I’d say we are in for a cold winter.

Also, the woolly bear headed in a southerly direction is trying to escape the cold weather, while a woolly bear traveling north means we may see a milder winter. From the video, it was hard to say what direction the woolly bear is traveling. So be on the lookout for a woolly bear of your own to use for this particular prediction.

The woolly bear is so popular that the people of Vermilion, Ohio, celebrate with a “Woolly Bear Festival” — a one-day festival held since 1973. Meanwhile, a Woolly Worm Festival is held the third weekend of October in Banner Elk, NC., complete with woolly worm races that begin at 10:20 a.m. on Saturday. The races continue throughout the day, and a grand final is run at 4 p.m. There is a cash prize for the winning woolly worm’s “trainer.”

Watch for more woolly worm news later this week.