It's Ground Hog Day!

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

The Pennsylvania pioneers recited:

For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until the May.

This passage may be the one most closely represented by the first Punxsutawney Groundhog Day observances because there are references to the length of shadows in early Groundhog Day predictions.

Another February 2nd belief, used by American 19th century farmers, was:

Groundhog Day - Half your hay.

New England farmers knew that we were not close to the end of winter, no matter how cloudy February 2nd was. Indeed, February 2nd is often the heart of winter. If the farmer didn't have half his hay remaining, there may have been lean times for the cows before spring and fresh grass arrived.

Pictured today is the rodent of the hour, Punxatawney Phil. On recent Ground Hog Days, crowds numbering as high as 30,000 have visited Gobbler's Knob in Jefferson County. Today's photo and reference material are courtesy of the Punxatawney Ground Hog Club.

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