Woodchuck Day

Hey - tell me why isn't is woodchuck day anyway?

From "This Day in History on history.com"

February 2: General Interest

1887 : First Groundhog Day

On this day in 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist,is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney,Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.

Groundhog Day has its roots in the ancient Christian tradition ofCandlemas Day, when clergy would bless and distribute candles needed for winter. The candles represented how long and cold the winter would be. Germans expanded on this concept by selecting an animal--thehedgehog--as a means of predicting weather.

Once they came to America,German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition, although theyswitched from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in theKeystone State.

Groundhogs, also called woodchucks and whose scientific name isMarmota monax, typically weigh 12 to 15 pounds and live six to eightyears. They eat vegetables and fruits, whistle when they're frightened or looking for a mate and can climb trees (!!) and swim.

They go into hibernation in the late fall; during this time, their body temperatures drop significantly, their heartbeats slow from 80 to five beats per minute and they can lose 30 percent of their body fat. InFebruary, male groundhogs emerge from their burrows to look for a mate(not to predict the weather) before going underground again. They come out of hibernation for good in March.

In 1887, a newspaper editor belonging to a group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney called the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club declared thatPhil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America's only true weather-forecasting groundhog. The line of groundhogs known as Phil might be America's most famous groundhogs, but other towns across North America now have their own weather-predicting rodents, fromBirmingham Bill to Staten Island Chuck to Shubenacadie Sam in Canada.

In 1993, the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray popularized the usage of "groundhog day" to mean something that is repeated over and over. Today, tens of thousands of people converge on Gobbler's Knob inPunxsutawney each February 2 to witness Phil's prediction. ThePunxsutawney Groundhog Club hosts a three-day celebration featuring entertainment and activities.