The Lion and the Mouse Fable

A lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws.  A timid little mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, ran across the lion's nose.  Woken from his nap, the lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.

"Spare me!" begged the poor mouse. "Please let me go and someday I will surely repay you."

The lion was so amused at the idea of the little mouse being able to help the King of Beasts that he lifted up his paw and let her go.

Some weeks later, the lion was caught in a net.  The hunters, who desired to carry the lion alive to their King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him.

Just then the little mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the lion's sad plight, went up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes of the net, freeing the lion.

"You have helped me and now I have returned the favor.  Was I not right - even a mouse can help a lion!" said the little mouse.

The Moral of the story: No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

 

This story has been told in many variations.  It is part of a collection called the Aesop Fables.  The morals of the story are timeless and can be enjoyed by children as well as adults.  Because the characters are represented by animals, we cannot be offended by the message. 

 

As the great English writer G. K. Chesterton pointed out:

“They have no choice, they cannot be anything but themselves.”

Who named Teddy the Bear?

When I visited my mother last month I discovered her love for teddy bears.  She had a whole basket of bears in a basket, some small ones and some bigger ones.  I started wondering about the origin of Teddy the Bear.

I knew that the world over, children love the cuddle stuffed animals.  And even adults liked them around for comfort and softness because of their friendly and almost human personalities.

When I went to see the doll museum in Hanau, they had exhibitions of early bears including the famous Steiff ® bears which are probably the most expensive toy bears around for their quality and life-likeness.

Before the production of toy animals came into high gear in the early 20^th Century, most people had seen bears only in zoos unless they came across a life bear in the wild.

Where did the bear get the name Teddy?

In November of 1902, the president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt went to Mississippi to settle a land dispute.  The president was a skilled hunter; it was his favorite sport.  On one of his trips in the wild, one of his man had cornered a bear and suggested for the president to shoot him.  But Theodore Roosevelt didn’t like the idea of shooting a cornered bear.  A political cartoonist, Clifford Berryman drew a cartoon of this event and published it under the title: Drawing the line in Mississippi.  The picture indicates the boundary between the disagreeing states and the refusal of the president to shoot a frightened bear.

When Rose and Morris Michtom of Brooklyn New York read about the incident, it gave them an idea to create a stuffed bear to showcase in their grocery store.  The Mitchtoms had come from Russia and thought of the appeal a bear would have on children.  Well, it worked and they sold the bear and many thereafter. 

After the Mitchtom’s request to the president to call the bear “Teddy” the name stuck, and they made their teddy bear production a full-time business.

In the meantime, in Germany lived a woman named Margaret Steiff who had polio.  She could not walk and had to use a wheelchair.

She owned a clothing store and being a seamstress, she also made stuffed animals.  At the end of the 19^th century, she managed the production of soft Steiff® animals.  Margaret’s nephew Richard was an artist, and brought back a drawing of a bear family when he visited the zoo in Stuttgart.  Margaret created a toy bear from the picture.  Being resourceful, Richard took the plush bear to the trade show in Leipzig, Germany.  Nobody paid any attention to the bear, except for an American toy buyer.  He ordered three thousand bears which started the mass production of Teddy Bears.

That was the beginning of the bear manufacturing and many factories starting popping up in cities all over the United States.

Why is the Teddy so popular?  It is his appeal to all ages, young and old, boys and girls.

Who is your favorite bear character?  Mine is Winnie-the-Pooh.  I love his innocence and simplicity.  Even my grand-children now love Winnie-the-Pooh in videos.

From a book: Teddy Bears by Arlene Erlbach

Do Woolly Bear Caterpillars Predict Winter Weather?

Last Saturday, I was sitting around a lunch table, and suddenly the topic of winter came up.  One lady shared the story about the woolly bear caterpillar predicting the severity of winter.  Since we just had survived the first major snowstorm here in South-Western Ohio, I listened up.  I was already tired of the cold weather and being cooped up in the house.  What is this tale about the Woolly Bear caterpillar?  Can it be a clear prediction for a harsh or a mild winter?  It’s kind of like the ground hog predicting the end of winter. That gave me the idea to look up the folklore behind the woolly bear worm.

 

Scientific Facts about The Pyrrharctia Isabella Moth
 

The caterpillar is the familiar Banded Woolly Bear, and even today it seems necessary to point out that the width of the brown band has nothing to do with the severity of the forthcoming winter. The caterpillar can be seen running across roads in October. It is seen again in February and March, after having spent the winter as a full-grown caterpillar. Before winter the caterpillar feeds on various low-growing plants such as Plantago and Taraxacum, but does not feed again until spring before it pupates in a silken cocoon in which larval hairs are incorporated. The adult moth, which has distinctly reddish forelegs, has a rather unpleasant smell!

Legend of Woolly Bear Caterpillar
 

In some parts of the world, it is believed that the severity of the winter can be predicted by the intensity of the black on the Isabella tiger moth’s larvae (caterpillar). In the American Northeast, it is believed that if the woolly worm has more brown on its body than black, it will be a fair winter. If the woolly worm has more black than brown, the winter will be harsh.

In 1608 Edward Topsell, a naturalist, called them "Palmer" worms - so named after the "palmer", or wandering monk - because of their roving habits and ruggedness (they are seen so late in fall). He also mentioned they were known as "beare worms." They have further been compared to bears in that they hibernate and have a similar walking gate. They have a dark hairy appearance, and curl up into a ball when touched. Today they are commonly referred to as "woolly bears". "Woolly bears" are caterpillars of moths and there are over 2,000 species of them.

As cold weather approaches, the "woolly bears" are one of the few species of caterpillars known to hibernate. In spring they emerge very hungry! They feed for a short time and then build a cocoon made from hairs of their shed larval skins mixed with silk which they make from glands in their own bodies. After pupating they emerge from their cocoons as adult moths.

I think for the most part, people find these caterpillars cute, fuzzy and downright fun to watch as they inch their way across a sidewalk.  These harmless caterpillars have enjoyed being the center of weather folklore for a very long time!  Like the groundhog’s shadow, the woolly worm’s thirteen distinctive black and reddish-brown bands have become a rule of thumb in forecasting winter.

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the longer the middle brown band, the milder and shorter the coming winter; the shorter the brown band, the longer and more severe winter will be.

The woolly worm tale was popularized in the 1950s by Dr. C. H. Curran, the curator of insects at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Over an eight year period, he collected woolly worms and measured the width of their colored bands, generally finding wider brown segments, which he linked with milder winters in New York during the same time period.

Festivals celebrate the Woolly Worm Caterillar

Three festivals are planned each year in honor of the clever creatures: the Woolly Bear Festival in Vermillion, Ohio; the Woolly Worm Festivals in Banner Elk, North Carolina and in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. And the myth continues on, all over the United States.

What’s the Forecast for the Winter of 2013/14?

·       Overall mild

·       Start of winter will be more harsh than the end of winter.

·       Early spring

Source: http://blogs.roanoke.com/weatherjournal/2013/09/calling-all-woolly-worm-interpreters/

Other Nature’s signs

Here are some other ways of looking at nature and predicting weather: Winter Outlook 2013-2014 Animal Style! You'll love the spin plants & animals can tell us all

Source: http://www.liveweatherblogs.com/index.php?option=com_community&view=groups&task=viewdiscussion&groupid=1796&topicid=45291&Itemid=179

I copied some of the information in this blog from the respective websites.  I enjoyed he legacy and the tales connected to the Farmer’s Almanacs which I hope will never be taking away completely because they make good conversation topics.