Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
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Home > Blogs > Birds and Butterflies > Archives > 2012 > February > 03 > Entry
Groundhogs Galore!
I hope everyone had a Happy Groundhogs Day yesterday! You may have heard different predictions from groundhogs all over the country. Rosie at the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery chimed in with her prediction of six more weeks of winter! However, did you ever wonder how this tradition began? Why would we look to groundhogs to predict our weather?
The tradition actually dates back centuries ago from Europe, when they would see if the hedgehog saw its’ shadow for a prediction of a ‘second winter’ or an early spring on February 2nd, which was a Christian holiday called Candlemas. In other European countries the badger and otters were also used to predict a ‘second winter.’ Back before radar systems and computers, people relied on animals to help predict weather, and usually bad weather. In the 1800’s German settlers in Pennsylvania wanted to keep the tradition alive, and decided to celebrate February 2nd as Groundhogs Day. They chose groundhogs because when they arrived in Pennsylvania, there weren’t any hedgehogs, which was the animal they used traditionally. But, the groundhog population was booming, and they figured than a species that was doing so well must be good at surviving. So, they decided to use the groundhog in place of the hedgehog to predict the weather on February 2nd. Then, in 1887, Punxsutawney Phil began his career predicting winter or spring. He is now known world-wide and thousands of people travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania from around the world to celebrate Groundhogs Day and meet Phil.
Even if you couldn’t to go Pennsylvania to see Punxsutawney Phil, or the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery to see Rosie, you can get out in your parks and look for groundhogs and groundhog evidence. These elusive creatures can be hard to spot; they can quickly hide in the burrow, they eat plants, and most of their scat is in their burrow. You can see their burrow entrances, and possibly some tracks from when they are out and about. But locating an active groundhog burrow can be tricky too, because other animals will take over abandoned groundhog homes! Skunks, opossums, and sometimes rabbits will use empty groundhog burrows. But it is still fun to go on a groundhog quest! If you find one, you can see for yourself if there will be six more weeks of winter!
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