Before there was a weather channel or a weather app for your smartphone, people looked to nature to predict the weather. Animals were considered reliable forecasters. If there was more orange than black on a woolly-bear caterpillar, the winter would be mild. More black than orange meant a hard winter was in store. If horses grew a thick coat early in the fall, winter would come early, with cold temperatures and lots of snow. The early migration of geese, ducks, and monarch butterflies predicted