In another thread, Paula asked what I'm seeing as predictors for winter weather. This year......I'm learning.
As she mentioned in her thread, I don't see the squirrels hiding winter dinner either. I DO see them eating up what's left of my pecans. I DON'T see them doing much storing away. They're pretty lean, and not carrying too much hair. The ants were not obviously laying in winter stores like I've seen them do in other years in Raeford. They haven't burrowed down deeply--they're still fairly close to the surface. I haven't seen them attacking large protein sources (very large insects, small reptiles.)
The trees are dropping their upper canopy leaves, however, most of the branches seem to still have quite a bit of sap. My tomatoes are still blooming and producing fruit. The rest of the overgrowth is still overgrowth.
Spanky just started putting on hair about a month ago. It's short, fine....but might be a plush undercoat. His long guard hairs on his underjaw are there, but he hasn't grown any feathering. Mane and tail on the other hand are growing faster than I can trim them.
Farmers' Almanac for this area says cool, wet.....and lasting into mid-Spring. YUCK As best I can guess, lots of rain. Probably average to slightly cooler, but wet, wet. I'm thinking the longer guard hairs are to help the wet drip off. Penny is the only one of my dogs that has hair, and hers is not significantly different than her summer hair has been. She isn't even growing a longer plume on her tail or longer hair on her ears. The texture just seems different....slicker and coarser.
So I'm thinking it's gonna be a dreary
, wet
long
winter. It will feel cooler because of the humidity. It'll be overcast quite a bit.
Then again.....I could be all wet!!! ROFL