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What many already know, is that Groundhog Day — celebrated every February 2nd — is the day that the Groundhog comes out of his hollow after a long winter’s slumber to look for his shadow. If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of 6 more weeks of bad weather and returns to his burrow. If the day is cloudy and thus shadowless, he takes it as a precursor of spring and stays above ground.

Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney. Photo Aaron Silvers

What you may not know, is that the one and only Punxsutawney Phil is the world’s smallest and furriest weather forecaster that began making predictions in 1887, and has since become a North American tradition.

Every February 2nd, countless people flock to Gobbler’s Knob, a wooded knoll just outside of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The covert ceremony was held undercover until 1966, and only Phil’s prediction was disclosed to the public. Since then, Phil’s fearless forecast has become a national media event.

The groundhog comes out of his now electrically heated burrow, looks for his shadow and utters his prediction to a Groundhog Club representative.

Phil sees his shadow about 90% of the time, and locals contend that the groundhog has never been wrong.

Fascinating Facts
In 1723, the Delaware Indians settled Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania as a campsite halfway between the Allegheny and the Susquehanna Rivers. The town is 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, at the intersection of Route 36 and Route 119.

The Delawares considered groundhogs honorable ancestors. According to the original creation beliefs of the Delaware Indians, their forebears began life as animals in “Mother Earth” and emerged centuries later to hunt and live as men.

Some say the name Punxsutawney comes from the Indian name for the location “ponksad-uteney” which means “the town of the sandflies.”

Photo Waynespixels

As the story goes, Punxsutawney Phil was named after King Phillip. Prior to being called Phil, he was called Br’er Groundhog.

The name woodchuck comes from the Indian legend of “Wojak, the groundhog” considered to be their ancestral grandfather.

Punxsutawney Phil has been making predictions for more than 120 years.

The typical groundhog is 20 inches (50 centimeters) long and generally weighs about 12 to 15 pounds (5.5 to 6.8 kilos).

Groundhogs have coarse grayish fur tipped with brown or occasionally dull red. They have short ears, a short tail, short legs, and are astonishingly swift. Their jaws are exceptionally strong.

A groundhog’s diet mainly consists of greens, fruits, and vegetables and very little water. Most of their liquids come from dewy leaves.

Groundhogs can whistle when alarmed, as well as in spring when they begin courting.

Insects don’t bother groundhogs and germs pretty much leave them alone. They’re resistant to plagues that periodically wipe out large numbers of wild animals — one reason for this is their cleanliness.

Groundhogs are one of the few animals that hibernate — the body temperature drops to a few degrees above freezing, the heart barely beats, the blood scarcely flows, and breathing nearly stops.

A baby groundhog is called a kit or a cub. They’re generally born in mid-April or May, and able to go out on their own by July. The size of the litter ranges from 4 to 9.

A groundhog’s life span is normally 6 to 8 years.

Groundhog Day proponents state that the rodents’ forecasts are accurate 75% to 90%. A Canadian study for 13 cities in the past 30 to 40 years puts success rate level at 37%. The National Climatic Data Center has stated that the overall predictions accuracy rate is around 39%.

The comedy movie Groundhog Day takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on this day. Actor Bill Murray is forced to relive the day over and over again until he can learn to give up his selfishness and become a better person. Since the 1993 release of the film, attendance at the real event has expanded — in 1997, there were 35,000 visitors in Punxsutawney, 5 times the Jefferson County town’s population of 6,700.

History of Groundhog Day
The lowly groundhog — also called a woodchuck, marmot or ground squirrel — is the only mammal to have a day named in his honor, which is quite the feat. But how did the creature come by this tribute?

Photo Minckler

The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers who brought with them the legend based on an old Scottish ode of Candlemas Day which states, “If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.”

Punxsutawney held its first Groundhog Day in the 1800’s. The first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob was made on February 2, 1887.

Groundhog Day is also a legend that traverses centuries, its origins clouded in the mists of time with ethnic cultures and animals awakening on specific dates. Myths such as these tie our present to the distant past when nature once influenced our lives.

The groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.

Photo Y Entonces

The Roman legions purportedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans during the conquest of the northern country, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, the hedgehog would cast a shadow, consequently predicting 6 more weeks of bad weather, which they consider the length of the ‘Second Winter.’

Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers were Germans and they found an abundance of groundhogs in many parts of the state. They determined that the groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was an intelligent and sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, the wise creature would see its shadow and hurry back into its den for another 6 weeks of winter.

Perhaps the earliest known American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Historical Society of Berks County in Reading, Pennsylvania. The reference was made Feb. 4, 1841 in Morgantown, Berks County, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris’ diary: “Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day (which goes on to recite the tradition of Groundhog Day).

Alternative Origin Theories
In western countries in the Northern Hemisphere the official first day of Spring is about 6 weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20th or 21st. About 1,000 years ago, before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar when the date of the equinox drifted in the Julian calendar, the spring equinox fell on March 16 instead. This was exactly 6 weeks after February 2nd.

Photo Scruss

Assuming that the equinox marked the first day of spring in certain medieval cultures, as it does now in western countries, Groundhog Day occurred exactly 6 weeks before spring. Therefore, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be 6 more weeks of winter. If he didn’t, there would be 42 more days of winter. In other words, the Groundhog Day tradition may have begun as a bit of folk humor.

View Live Coverage of Groundhog Day
You can view the official LIVE coverage of Punxsutawney Phil’s Prognostication on February 2nd here and find out whether we’ll have an early spring.

Groundhog Day Trailer

Sources: Groundhog.org, GOJP and Wikipedia

Tags:animal animals ground squirrel groundhog Groundhog Day groundhogs mammal mammals marmot Punxsutawney Phil woodchuck

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