Wilsonville Spokesman Online

Groundhog sees his shadow

Legend says to expect six more weeks of winter

• Published: 2/2/2010 11:15:26 AM

Groundhog Day

Expect six more weeks of winter.
 
Punxsutawney Phil, the renowned groundhog said to be able to predict the end of the season, saw his shadow this morning.
 
His official forecast was read at sunrise at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Penn.
 
On Gobbler’s Knob on this glorious Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, 2010, Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators, awoke to the call of President Bill Deeley and greeted his handlers, John Griffiths and Ben Hughes.
 
After casting a joyful eye towards thousands of his faithful followers, Phil proclaimed, “If you want to know next, you must read my text. As the sky shines bright above me, my shadow I see beside me. So six more weeks of winter it will be.”
 
According to tradition, if the groundhog emerges from hibernation Feb. 2 and sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, it is said spring will come early.
 
According to the U.S. National Climatic Data Center, Phil’s predication comes true about 40 percent of the time.
 
Groundhog Day is a Germanic tradition with roots in Christian and Roman customs. Feb. 2 marks the Christian holiday of Candlemas, which celebrates Mary’s presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. Apparently, the holiday became associated with weather prediction, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. Clear skies on Candlemas meant a longer winter: “For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May.”
 
According to legend, Romans used hedgehogs for weather forecasts. The two traditions came together in Germany and immigrants brought them to Pennsylvania, where a groundhog was substituted for the hedgehog.
 
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club organized in 1887 and declared Punxsutawney Phil the official weather-predicting animal. More than a century later, the tradition is still alive ... and so, supposedly, is the groundhog.
 
That’s not to say he’s stuck in the past. This year, Phil announced his forecast via text message, tweet and Facebook update.
 
But not everyone thinks Phil has a place in today’s world. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently sent a letter to the club asking that Phil be retired to a sanctuary and replaced with an electronic groundhog.
 
“Other popular exhibitions have featured robotic penguins and dolphins who swim and communicate just like real animals do,” the letter said. “We think that an animatronic groundhog would similarly mesmerize a crowd full of curious spectators in Punxsutawney.”

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