Are you ready for a black squirrel winter?

The American experience is steeped in folklore.

We are a diverse people – a melting pot, if you will – that can trace its lineage back to archaic cultures with trinkets and reminders that resurface to this very day. While our lifelines and ethnicities have converged into a singular American story, glimpses of the past have a staying power that resonates deep inside every single one of us.

Part of that slice of Americana includes superstitions and old wise tales that while seem to be rooted in fallacy and fear have proven to be eerily accurate when stacked against fact and reason.

Humanity’s lasting relationship with nature

While modern conveniences and technology may suggest otherwise, humanity remains closely linked to these superstitions. Ever since man could rub two sticks together to give light to his darkened world, he has sought out to understand the natural world around him; to make sense of the unknown. Mother Nature has been more than willing to oblige this seemingly wanton curiosity and if we pause long enough, we can hear the message she is trying to bestow to us.

‘A Winter of Sorrows’

 

 

One of those superstitions or messages that has withstood the test of time is the legend of the Black Squirrel Winter, which is perhaps more ominously known as The Winter of Sorrows. This particular legend pertains to the mountains of North Carolina, but it does escape the whispering murmurs in other circles of conversation, at times flirting under the guise of a dire warning.

Depending on who you ask, the legend of the Black Squirrel Winter begin with Native American culture. It is no secret that Native Americans were much more attuned to their natural surroundings and were constantly searching for clues about how Mother Nature worked. Being a hunter/gatherer culture, they were understandably concerned with the winds of change and weather patterns. A stretch of treacherous weather would surely ruin a hunting excursion or a crop of freshly planted corn.

Bean counters and carports

Winter could prove to be a death sentence for those tribes that didn’t properly prepare for the upcoming season, so they began to develop forecasting techniques that soon proved to be wildly accurate. For whatever reason, ancient tribes began to count the number of foggy mornings in August. What they soon discovered is that the number of foggy morning perfectly corresponded with the number of snows that occurred during the upcoming winter.

The native tribes soon shared this technique with American frontiersmen and pioneers soon perfected the system of fog counting that is still used today. As a way to keep track of the foggy mornings, our nation’s mountaineers would drop a bean into a jar and then count the beans at the end of the month to determine the number of forecast snowy days. A large bean would denote larger fogs while smaller beans would represent smaller, wispier fogs.

Small potatoes or big beans?

Incredibly, our ancestors also discovered a direct correlation between the bean size and the depth of each snow. Larger beans, or fogs, typically suggested the number of deeper snows and the same was true for smaller fogs. In addition to the number of beans or fogs, Native Americans and frontiersmen soon discovered another dark harbinger of a perilous winter: the dreaded black squirrel.

The dreaded black squirrel

 

 

Without fail, scores of black squirrels would be sighted in late summer and early fall, almost in concert with the years with a higher bean tally. Taken altogether, a full mason jar of beans and black squirrel sightings would almost guarantee a snowy and bleak winter.

Winter is coming, so are great deals from Carport.com

 

 

So, what can you do to avoid the torment of a black squirrel winter? Besides shooting the winter warriors on sight? You need to consider your current level of protection. Is it up to the task of protecting your treasured belongings? Your car, ATV or boat deserve the same amount of protection as the valuables within your home. We have a wide selection of carports, garages and metal buildings to choose from. We also provide free delivery and installation on items that are not on clearance.

Carpot.com can outlast any season

Regardless of any season, carport.com is up to the task of offering yearlong steel protection. Milder climates may dictate the installation of a single or two-car carport while areas prone to snowy and windy weather in the winter may lead to considering one of our two-car garages. A fully enclosed metal structure offers you several innate advantages unavailable in a carport although we still highly recommend these items for communities that are not at the mercy of Mother Nature. 

 

Consider a vertical roof for your carport or garage

Our carports, garages and metal buildings come with three distinct roofing options: regular, A-frame, or vertical. In terms of superior protection and durability, we highly recommend the vertical roof style. The paneling on a vertical roof run from the ridge gap toward the ground and are shorter, yet stronger than its horizontal counterpart. Vertical style roofing also allows for additional hat channels that work as a bracing system that enhances overall protection.