Date: Fri 09-Oct-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

weaather-acorns-Woolly-bears

Full Text:

Forester: Don't Plan Your Winter By The Number Of Acorns

(with cut)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

This has been a busy season for squirrels thanks to an abundance of acorns,

which have been falling by the bushel from the sky this fall. We know the

little varmints won't go hungry this winter, but does a large crop of acorns

tell us anything else about what kind of weather we can expect in the coming

months?

Some believe all these acorns indicate a nasty winter lies ahead. Take, for

example, last week's finance committee meeting where members half jokingly

talked of all the snowfall that is expected.

"You've seen the size of the acorns," said Melissa Pilchard chuckling. "I hope

we have enough money in our contingency for overtime for all the snow

plowing."

In truth, however, the theory is little more than an old wive's tale,

according to Jeff Ward, a forester at the state's Agricultural Experiment

Station in New Haven.

"If trees could predict the weather we'd all be rich -- buying oil futures,"

he said.

Mr Ward said the only way the acorns could give an accurate prognostication

would be if the weather patterns were constant year-to-year.

In short, said state forester Jim Pronovost, the acorns are more a reflection

of the past than they are of the future. Don't let the acorns scare you into

thinking Newtown is about to be buried in snow.

"You hear those things, but I don't think there is any scientific basis to

that," he said. "I'm not sure if anyone has ever kept track of what winter was

like after a large year for acorns."

But what about the woolly bear caterpillars? There are those who insist that

its middle stripe is as accurate as a dopler radar screen. Nonsense, say the

experts.

Nevertheless, there are those who still believe in the acorn/woolly bear

theories. They say they will continue to accept nature's little clue until a

more scientific method of predicting the weather is found.