ASK JACKSON

The Southeast Missourian asked people about the woolly worm's reputation of forecasting winter weather.

John Snead: "I've seen most of them with brown in the middle and black on each end. I've seen them that way for the last four or five years. I'll support the worm this year."

Mary Bollinger: "I think there will be a lot of snow this winter, but I think the woolly worm is right on track. It will be cold at the beginning, then maybe lighter, and a lot colder at the end of winter."

Cathy Wissehr: "I think it's a wonderful folklore, but as a science teacher, I'll have to go with a genetic link in their coloration. It doesn't have anything to do with the weather. It's just luck."

Phyllis Riney: "I think the woolly worm is more right than he is wrong. It's just more of Mother Nature's way of predicting things if you watch the signs."

Bev Tuschhoff: "I've heard people talking about the woolly worm, and I think that's what will happen. It has started out cold, and I hope it will be a mild winter."