Do trees and creatures really predict the weather?

[jrider]

This is a topic that has been discussed in many threads here so I decided it needs it's own thread.
There are a lot of perceived indicators of an approaching cold winter. Many of them are things old farmers say but still carry a lot of belief, one of these being the number of acorns the oaks produce. I am not a believer in this idea due to the fact it makes no sense to me. Acorns, just like any other nut or fruit grow in response to their growing season not because of what is to come.
Please weigh in on your thoughts on this as well as any other concepts of nature predicting our long term weather.

 

[muddstopper]

I dont believe the acorn crop theory at all. What I have noticed in the past, the acorn crop is dependant on the weather the previous late winter. You get some warm weather late winter and the trees start to bud out, then you get a cold spell with heavy frost and those buds get frostbit. Sure sign of a poor acorn crop in the fall. drought conditions during the summer, again a poor acorn crop. How the acorn crop does is more dependant on weather past that weather future. I might be able to stretch the acorn theory a bit by suggesting a good acorn crop would be a sign of current weather trends. A good crop could suggest a previous mild winter, followed by a rainy summer, and could lead to a wet, snowy winter.. I would offer to think that the wet,snowy winter might be more of result of more moisture in the soil due to the rainy weather in the summer. I suspect the acorn crop also benefited from the extra moisture, and therefore would be the link between a bad winter and good acorn crop.

One thing I did noticed this year was the lack of sourwood worms and catawba worms this year. I walked many areas where I normally would find plenty of sourwood worms in the past, and never found a single tree with worms. The same for the catawba, Trees that would normally produce 2, and even 3 crops of worms in a season, where practically untouched this year. Messed with my catfishing big time.

 

[Jed1124]

Acorns, just like any other nut or fruit grow in response to their growing season not because of what is to come

You are correct. Trees respond to what has already happened, sometimes years earlier. Many Oaks produce acorns on a cycle. Rainfall and temperature/humidity can have an effect on how many/little are produced.
I still like when the old timers predict the winter from the trees and stuff though, I especially like the one about the Woolly Bugger caterpillars. Can't remember what means what with them though. More brown, more black..........

 

[ropensaddle]

Absolutely they predict weather. No bugs its either dern cold or way too hot. No critters its hunting season and I'm in those woods or its apocalypse and we've been toasted"any questions"

 

[jrider]

Absolutely they predict weather. No bugs its either dern cold or way too hot. No critters its hunting season and I'm in those woods or its apocalypse and we've been toasted"any questions"

I put the words "long term" in there just for funny guys like you

 

[jrider]

I dont believe the acorn crop theory at all. What I have noticed in the past, the acorn crop is dependant on the weather the previous late winter. You get some warm weather late winter and the trees start to bud out, then you get a cold spell with heavy frost and those buds get frostbit. Sure sign of a poor acorn crop in the fall. drought conditions during the summer, again a poor acorn crop. How the acorn crop does is more dependant on weather past that weather future. I might be able to stretch the acorn theory a bit by suggesting a good acorn crop would be a sign of current weather trends. A good crop could suggest a previous mild winter, followed by a rainy summer, and could lead to a wet, snowy winter.. I would offer to think that the wet,snowy winter might be more of result of more moisture in the soil due to the rainy weather in the summer. I suspect the acorn crop also benefited from the extra moisture, and therefore would be the link between a bad winter and good acorn crop.

One thing I did noticed this year was the lack of sourwood worms and catawba worms this year. I walked many areas where I normally would find plenty of sourwood worms in the past, and never found a single tree with worms. The same for the catawba, Trees that would normally produce 2, and even 3 crops of worms in a season, where practically untouched this year. Messed with my catfishing big time.

And what does the lack of sourwood worms indicate?

 

[muddstopper]

And what does the lack of sourwood worms indicate?

It means I missed some good catfish bait this year. Not too be to funny, I think the cause was the large amount of hard rains we had in the spring. I think the rain and wind knocked them off the trees.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I can sort of predict the weather just from how my back and hands feel. It's not super accurate, but often more accurate than the weather guessers that they have on the news.

 

[ropensaddle]

I have a weather guage that is pretty dern accurate, its a piece of rope nailed to a board. It says rope dry sunny, rope wet raining , rope swinging windy,rope gone tornado! I have found it to be quite accurate in my study.

 

[unclemoustache]

I have a weather guage that is pretty dern accurate, its a piece of rope nailed to a board. It says rope dry sunny, rope wet raining , rope swinging windy,rope gone tornado! I have found it to be quite accurate in my study.

Somebody smack that Arkie upside the head!!



I heard about muskrat houses, but I don't even know what a muskrat is or where the nearest one would be.
My cats certainly don't give any indication.

I heard that the 'wooly bear' worms are an indicator, but I don't know about the validity of that either.

In other words, I'm no help at all, but better than Ropensaddle!

.

 

[ropensaddle]

Ok so my weather gauge which I have found to be fool proof taint fancy nuff or what?

 

[ropensaddle]

Seriously look at persimmon seeds they will tell you what winter is going to be

 

[KiwiBro]

Not sure about predicting, but certainly recording, weather. Plenty of core samples have been taken from Ancient Kauri preserved in and dug up from, peat swamps. These are logs from trees so old it's hard to accurately carbon date them. Trees that grew for many, many hundreds of years before a massive event knocked them over. Plenty of history in them thar growth rings. Another piece in the puzzle I guess.

 

[lone wolf]

Short term yes long term not that I know of. Birds staying grounded , ant mounds more built up and leaves on Poplars floating upward from a change in air density all indicate rain coming soon. If you pay attention you will see for your self.

 

[chucker]

yepp! I know that for a fact !! every time it's going to be cold and rainy, my right knee hurts like a devil and both my elbow's refuse to cooperate l!! lol

 

[Brushwacker]

We had a year here not to long ago where nearly every fruit tree got so heavy with fruit, many branches were braking. I noticed the coats on my furry friends looked thicker then usual early also and it was the longest coldest winter I remember for many years. Don't remember the acorn crop that year but my guess is there is something to it, not 100%, but may be well over 50% for accuracy.
There is some old sayings I've heard through the years, never payed attention to that I eventually realized they came from facts when I witnessed them happening.

 

[CR888]

The ants usually know when its gonna rain.

 

[muddstopper]

Short term yes long term not that I know of. Birds staying grounded , ant mounds more built up and leaves on Poplars floating upward from a change in air density all indicate rain coming soon. If you pay attention you will see for your self.

If high ant mounds are any indication, I hit one mowing this week that stopped the mower. Usually I just run over them and watch the puff of dust blow out the side. This one stopped the mower in its tracks and I had to hit it three times before the mower would go over it. I got some bifintrin yesterday to take care of the little buggers.

 

[lone wolf]

If high ant mounds are any indication, I hit one mowing this week that stopped the mower. Usually I just run over them and watch the puff of dust blow out the side. This one stopped the mower in its tracks and I had to hit it three times before the mower would go over it. I got some bifintrin yesterday to take care of the little buggers.

Well I am saying when they build them a little higher than they are it will rain soon.

 

[sb47]

Common since tells me that vegetation responds to existing conditions, not future one's.
I would say that most animals are responding to existing conditions as well.
I do see a cyclical cycle when it comes to weather though.