18 Sep Predicting snow like a local.

Trying to guess what the coming winter will bring is something of a pastime in the mountains as winter approaches. If you want to fit in with the locals you better brush up on your insect knowledge as the praying mantis is supposedly the one to watch when it comes to snowfall predictions.

A mantis with previous years’ prediction in Shiozawa’s Bokushidori

The theory goes that the mantis will lay its eggs higher than the deepest snow of the season thus making sure that its eggs will survive to hatch in spring.

We’re going to game the system this year by trying to get the local mantis population to lay eggs in our pot plants and then stick them on the roof of  our HQ to ensure meters and meters of snow.