Groundhog Day, a Winter Tradition

Posted by Susanna McLeod Feb 2, 2009

The Canadian groundhog Wiarton Willy was once again dragged out of his toasty home to the rousing applause of fans of Groundhog Day. He did see his shadow, meaning no early spring but six more weeks of winter. I wonder what the little critter actually thinks of the event? Does it anger him or is he still in a grog from sleep? I imagine that he is quite frightened, actually.

Groundhog day has been a Winter institution in Canada since at least the early 1950s when Wiarton Willy made the news. The occasion has become a weekend-long festival in Wiarton, Ontario, where 20,000 tourists drop in for the formal forecasting. In the United States, the tradition has been around since 1887 in Punxutawney, Pennsylvania when German immigrants gave the groundhog credit for weather predictions.

The chubby rodents are not so great at foretelling the weather though. Statistics show they have a dismal success rate of about 37 percent. At that rate, we can all make a good guess at the forecast, but it's not as much fun as having a real groundhog see his shadow, even if he does have bed-head and is a little testy about the whole thing.

Happy Groundhog Day!