i live where in february theres still supposed to be 3 feet of snow on the ground, but this year its been really warm for some reason we only accumulated less then a foot of snow all winter, and when the groundhog saw his shadow meaning six more weeks of winter the weather got warmer. so it was the opposite of what the groundhog stood for.
Here's that biologist again with a more complete explanation of Groundhog Day for people who have never heard of it. 1) A groundhog is a type of rodent, about a foot long (30cm), which spends the winter in its underground burrow living on its stored fat. 2) Because baby groundhogs have to grow to adults and store enough fat to survive the winter in just one year, they need to be born early in spring, but late enough that their mother can find fresh green plants for food in order to provide milk for them. 3) This means that male groundhogs need to venture out into the late winter weather, somewhere around Feb. 2, to seek out a female still snug in her burrow for mating purposes. 4) From this early emergence of the male groundhogs, folklore has built the legend that on Feb. 2 a groundhog leaves his burrow and if the weather is cloudy, he stays out and spring will come early that year. If it is sunny, however, he sees his shadow which scares him back into his burrow, and there will be six more weeks of winter. 5) Somehow, over the years, the public relations people at the zoo in Punxatawnie, Pennsylvania have declared their groundhog, named Phil (therefore Punxatawnie Phil) as the official national groundhog, andhis prediction the official word on whether spring will be early. They have a press conference around Phil's" burrow" and entice him out with food (or shove him out from below if necessary,) all the photographers take his picture, and that is that for another year. And spring comes when it comes, whether Phil or any other groundhog saw his shadow.
Groundhogs are also called woodchucks, but Woodchuck Day doesn't have the same ring to it. And no, woodchucks do not really throw (also called "chuck" in some areas of the US) wood or anything else. (I may very well have misspelled Punxatawnie, I did not look it up, just spelled it phonetically. I assume it comes from a Native American word.)
LVL 108; XP 23,138,749; Gold 1,827,209; 4/23/12 HP 130; AP 4/12; AC 328; AD 55-66; CC 9; CM 0; BC 127; DR 2 RoLS 4; RoL 2; ElyR 4; ChaR 11; GoLF 4; ShaF 4 S Rgn, SP: 1:CE,Ev,SM,EB,PB; 2:WA,HH,Cl,BS,MC,BC,CS,QL,IF,Rgn,MF
A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as he could chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood. But he can't, so this should end here. There are too many tongue-twisters out there.
LVL 108; XP 23,138,749; Gold 1,827,209; 4/23/12 HP 130; AP 4/12; AC 328; AD 55-66; CC 9; CM 0; BC 127; DR 2 RoLS 4; RoL 2; ElyR 4; ChaR 11; GoLF 4; ShaF 4 S Rgn, SP: 1:CE,Ev,SM,EB,PB; 2:WA,HH,Cl,BS,MC,BC,CS,QL,IF,Rgn,MF