During a lunchtime walk along the inbound Pine Street sidewalk, the photographer found this Pyrrharctia isabella, or woolly bear, caterpillar doing the same.
Why did the woolly bear caterpillar cross the parking lot? To find a safe spot to spend winter, that’s why. In the spring it will spin a silky cocoon, and two weeks later it will metamorphose into a beautiful tiger moth.
These tent caterpillars were spotted in the dog park area. The moths they metamorphose into are known to be a destructive species, defoliating large amounts of shrubs.