Traditional Ecological Knowledge or Folktales?

Passing on Knowledge through traditional ecological knowledge is the way our native ancestors have kept alive the Original Instructions given to us by the Creator.  I remember my Tota telling me when I was really very young that when you could see the white undersides of a tree’s leaves, it was going to rain within several hours.  When I see the whitish undersides of leaves, I think of the rain my Tota predicted, and it has never to this day failed to happen.

Before the technology to predict weather was developed, people had to rely on observations and oral knowledge passed on to them.  It was important not to be caught away from home or to journey when storms were coming. Survival depended on traditional knowledge or what some call, folklore.   The term folklore has a negative connotation in being something that is a story or made-up, while traditional knowledge is something based on keen observation and truths.  However, as you will see below from the examples some of the folktales are true, some barely seem to be possible, while others have been disproved by scientific tests.

However, we must keep in mind that today’s weather forecasters use a lot of scientific instruments to predict the weather, and they may do better in their predictions if they used folklore and traditional ecological knowledge rather than science.   Below are a few examples of traditional ecological knowledge and folktales:

1. When flies bite, rain is coming.  TRUE, but not every single time.  It is the moist weather before a rain; the rise in the heat index and atmospheric pressure that causes humans to sweat more which can lead to flies biting.  The moist air makes flying harder for the flies thereby grounding them, the heat makes you sweat, and when the atmospheric pressure lowers on your body, you sweat more.  All of this combined make flies, as well as other insects, more attracted to you and more bothersome.

2.  A cow with its tail to the west, makes weather best - A cow with its tail to the east, makes weather the least.  CAN BE TRUE because cows graze with their tails to the wind. It is their natural instinct to do this in order for them to see or smell the approach of invaders.  Since an east wind is a rain wind and the west wind is a fair wind, the cow’s tail indeed can become a weather sign.

3.  A halo around the sun or moon predicts rain or snow - the larger the halo, the sooner the precipitation.  This is MORE LIKELY TRUE in warm weather than in the winter.  Crystals in cirriform clouds cause the halo you see in warm weather.  This is a sign of an approaching warm front to be followed by a long, slow rain.

4.  The width of the band on a Woolly Bear caterpillar predicts the severity of the coming winter. FALSE Scientists have proven that the width of the band is related to the age of the caterpillar. As the caterpillar grows it sheds its old skin making the band wider and the ends narrower.  Also, some species of this caterpillar do not even have a band.

5.  Migrating birds, like geese, fly higher in fair weather.  TRUE because the birds fly in an altitude limit that is lifted in high-pressure air that occurs in good weather and lowered in low pressure, stormy air.

6. Thick cornhusks predict a cold winter is coming.  This is MOST LIKELY TRUE because a thick husk on corn could be due to a wetter, warmer summer, which is the other end of the pendulum to a cold, dry winter.

7.  When squirrels gather and store a large amount of nuts look for a hard winter. FALSE. Squirrels just do the best they can with what’s available to them, and some years nut trees produce more nuts then other years.  The more nuts produced, the more these busy little creatures will instinctively gather.

8.  When hornets nest up high in the trees expect a very hard winter.  FALSE because in the same year, in the same area, hornet nests can be seen as high as 30 feet above the ground and some very low to the ground.

9. When smoke descends, good weather ends. TRUE because the instability of humidity and pre-storm pressures keeps smoke from chimneys or bonfires from rising quickly and leads to their curling downward in the face of a storm.

10.  When leaves show their backs, it will rain (like my Tota’s saying).   TRUE because as trees grow, their leaves create a pattern according to the prevailing wind.  When a storm is coming, it is on a non-prevailing wind, therefore, the leaves will be ruffled and show their undersides.

11.  Crickets are accurate thermometers. TRUE.  Crickets chirp faster when warm and slower when they are cold.  The male cricket rubs his wings together to attract females.  You can measure the temperature within a few degrees by listening to the chirps and applying a simple mathematical formula.  You will need a watch or stopwatch. Count the number of chirps you hear in 14 seconds - Add 40 to this number and this will be the approximate temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. To calculate the approximate temperature in degrees Celsius, count the number of chirps you hear in 8 seconds and add 3 to this number. Keep in mind that the closer the air temperature is to freezing, the less accuracy of these formulas.

12.  One can sometimes smell a storm coming. TRUE because the low-pressure preceding a storm allows methane (swamp gas) to rise and drift with the current.  In boggy areas the odor can be quite strong.

13.  Geese and gulls usually will not fly before a storm. TRUE because before a storm the low pressure air is thin making it hard for them to become airborne.

14.  (A more modern saying) Contrails from airplanes up high predict precipitation in a day or two.  TRUE because contrails only form in moist air. The moist air may be a hint to the coming of rain. 

15.  Ants travel in a straight line when rain is expected.  This is FALSE because after many observations and tests, there was absolutely no scientific proof to validate this saying.

16.  Bees will not swarm before a storm.  Most likely TRUE because beekeepers have always been good weather prophets.

17.  The higher the clouds, the better the weather.  TRUE because high clouds indicate dryness of air and higher atmospheric pressure.  Both of those factors are present in fair weather.

18.  You can tell the direction of the wind when you see gulls roosting on the ground all facing in the same direction. TRUE because they and some other birds will face the same way with the wind to their faces. This is because the wind flows over the contour of their bodies not ruffling their feathers or making them off balance. Also, taking off into the wind, not with the wind, gives them the lift they need to become airborne.