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A furry black and orange creature with clawed feet and crushing, opposable mandibles has been spotted crossing local roadways and paths including the Huckleberry Trail in the New River Valley. Witnesses describe the creature as “cute,” and Virginia Tech entomologist Eric Day does not seem alarmed.

The woolly worm, also known as the woolly bear caterpillar, appears when fall sets in as it searches for a place to overwinter and later pupate. In midsummer, it is seen again, but has transformed into the Isabella tiger moth, Day said.

Folklore suggests that careful reading of the caterpillar’s black and brown pattern can predict the length and severity of the winter. The more black in its fuzzy coat, the longer and harsher the winter, some say.

Science suggests something different can be predicted, primarily how much of a glutton the caterpillar is.

“The middle orange band gets bigger and bigger the longer they feed. If you have a really small black area on the woolly worm it just means they had a really good summer and they had a lot of good feeding,” Day said.

Day welcomes the benevolent creature’s arrival, since he says it isn’t a nuisance or destructive like other fall and winter insects that frequent homes. He associates it with the coming cool weather and the turning of the leaves.

“It’s a harbinger of fall,” he said .

-- Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Parrott, Va. - Clothes hung on a line in the summer breeze near two large tents tucked away on the riverbank along Parrott River Road.

The quiet of the river was broken by the squealing of children struggling with a smallmouth bass on their line. Kellie Hurley helped her son, Eric Lee Hardin, 3, reel it in on his tiny toy rod. Her other son, Michael Hardin, 2, splashed around nearby in his Marvel Comics underwear.

Eric Lee wriggled in delight and the bass wriggled in distress before it flopped off the hook and into the New River. "He's gone!" exclaimed his mother.

It was a Tuesday and the Hurley family had been "roughing it" along the riverbank since Sunday. A Norfolk Southern train screeched down the tracks running parallel to the river on its way to West Virginia, the Hurley's home. Then quiet set in again.

"It's just your family," Kellie Hurley said as the water lapped at her feet. She said she doesn't get to see her kids as often because of her job as a volunteer firefighter in McDowell County.

Her father David sat nearby and said he had been coming down to Parrott to camp and fish for 20 years.  "I live back in the woods," said the Mercer County native.  "There ain't no fishing like New River," he said. David went on to tell monster fish tales from his past expeditions.

"Kellie said she caught a eight-pound smallmouth. I told her I wanted to see it but I think she's lying to me," he said laughing. Kellie smiled back at him as she attempted to put a new hook on her sons' line.

A wise fisherman once said that the science to fishing isn't how big a fish you catch, it's how well you lie about it when you get home.

Story and Multimedia by Justin Cook / The Roanoke Times

Molli Chmielorz of Charleston, South Carolina and Danny Diaz of Manassas, Virginia. and their dogs Gaby and Lucy relax on the Drillfield at Virginia Tech on the anniversary of the April 16 shootings. Justin Cook / The Roanoke Times

Relaxed is probably the word I would use to describe the second Day of Remembrance at Virginia Tech. The feel on campus was very calm, the weather was warm and it seemed most people wanted to enjoy the day outside as they reflected. "I only saw one person crying," said Molli Chmielorz. She thought that the release of energy during the 3.2 mile race at the start of the day had a lot to do with the calm atmosphere.