In 2008, the American Festivals Project headed south to Banner Elk, North Carolina, to attend the annual Woolly Worm Festival, an autumn event in which thousands of contestants race woolly worms, fuzzy caterpillars also known as banded woolly bears.

The winning worm is said to forecast the weather for the coming season. A woolly worm's body has 13 segments—each corresponding to a week in winter. If a segment is light brown, that means the week will be mild. If a segment is black, that means a harsh, cold week.

Here, a contestant shows off her competing caterpillar, a woolly worm that would appear to predict plenty of mild weeks ahead.

Read more about the Woolly Worm Festival from the American Festivals Project blog.

Seabird Photos

See pictures of waterbirds (including gulls, pelicans, loons, and more) in this birds photo gallery from National Geographic.