Seriously....

The predictions are for 50% or less of average snowfall this winter, exacerbating a four-year drought. The reservoirs are so low that in some of them you can walk nearly to the middle; some are dry. Jackson Lake, up Grand Tetons NP, is down 25 feet this year from last. Emergency water rules will be in effect by the first of Spring at the latest. It could be cold, but that doesn't bring moisture (trees are following dogs around).

Something I've always wondered....

We look at the actions of squirrels, the fuzz on caterpillars, the skin on fruits and vegetables, and other things and conclude that there will be a mild or hard winter. How do they know? I've watched squirrels and they are ALWAYS running around storing food (and forgetting where their stash is as well). I've seen years when the caterpillars were predicting an easy winter and there were blizzards (1978 comes to mind). That the shallots around Arles are thickskinned might mean nothing about the weather in Bruges or Berlin or Birmingham or Blackfoot.

Is this because we attribute some sort of "supernatural" knowledge to non-human things? Or to give us an excuse for doing what we should be doing -- preparing for bad weather and cold?