Forget Punxsutawney Phil: the woolly worm predicts the winter weather

Avery County, North Carolina couldn't care less about groundhog day, as residents gather each October to find a fuzzy caterpillar to be their weatherman

I'm standing in line to buy my ticket for the Woolly Worm festival in Banner Elk, North Carolina, and the air smells of cotton candy and roasting meat.

Hordes of people pass by in baseball caps covered with woolly worm pins made of furry pom-pom balls. The man in front of me adjusts the worm-carrying case that is strapped to his wrist like a watch.