Woolly bears are probably our most recognized caterpillar. They're an inch and a half long and covered with quarter-inch bristles. They're black on each end and reddish-brown in the middle. This time of year, you often see them racing across roads, sometimes in such numbers that it seems they're on suicide missions. What are they doing?
Woolly bears are the larvae of the Isabella tiger moth, a nondescript small brown moth. They can eat pretty much anything, including dandelions and grass. So they're not looking for food. They're searching for a good place to spend the winter. Insects can survive the winter in many different forms. In paper wasps, for example, only the queen of each colony and the eggs she carries live through the winter. All of the other paper wasps die. Many moths spend the winter in cocoons.
Woolly bears hibernate as caterpillars, curled under leaf litter or in any other protected spot they can find, such as your garage. In spring, they'll wake up and start eating again for a little while before forming a cocoon and turning into a moth. Now is a great time to pick them up and take a closer look. They won't hurt you; they'll just curl up in your hand. While you're at it, maybe you can help them across.
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