Punxsutawney Phil
According to Wikipedia, Punxsutawney Phil is a groundhog resident of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA. On February 2, (Groundhog Day) of each year, the town of Punxsutawney celebrates the beloved groundhog with a festive atmosphere of music and food. During the ceremony, which begins well before the winter sunrise, Phil emerges from his temporary home on Gobbler's Knob, located in a rural area about 2 miles east of town. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, the United States will have six more weeks of winter. If Phil does not see his shadow, spring will arrive early. The date of Phil's prognostication is known as Groundhog Day in the United States and Canada. During the rest of the year, Phil lives in the town library with his "wife" Phyllis. A select group, called the Inner Circle, takes care of Phil year-round and also plan the annual ceremony. Members of the Inner Circle are recognizable by their top hats and tuxedos. Phil currently has two co-handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
Punxsutawney Phil fans say that there is only one Phil (all the other groundhog weathermen are imposters), and that he has made weather prognostications for over 120 years as of 2010. They say that every summer, Phil is fed a sip of the mysterious Groundhog Punch, which magically lengthens his life for seven years. This is done by Inner Circle members. According to the Groundhog Club, Phil, after making the prediction, speaks to the Club President in "Groundhogese", which only the Inner Circle appear to understand, and then his prediction is translated for the entire world.
Data shows, however, groundhogs (widely known as woodchucks) have a maximum lifespan in captivity of 10 years, much shorter in the wild. Thus it is certain that Phil has been replaced many times. The actual method whereby the Inner Circle makes the "prediction" is unknown.
Even though Phil is the most famous of all of the groundhog prognosticators, some other locations have their
own weatherhogs.
Again according to Wikipedia:
General Beauregard Lee is a groundhog that resides at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, Georgia just outside of Atlanta. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Georgia - "DWP, Doctor of Weather Prognostication" and Georgia State University - "Doctor of Southern Groundology." He has been predicting early springs or late winters for fourteen years and the Game Ranch claims a 94 percent accuracy rate. However, he did have one major miss: in 1993 he predicted an early Spring but Georgia was hit with a blizzard that crippled the Southeast for nearly a week and a half.
Balzac Billy, the "Prairie Prognosticator," lives in Balzac, Alberta, 8km north of Calgary, Alberta.
Buckeye Chuck, Ohio's official weather-predicting groundhog, resides in Marion, Ohio, USA. He is one of two groundhogs in Ohio known for predicting the arrival of spring. Chuck began predicting the arrival of Spring in the 1970s. In addition, the Ohio General Assembly declared Buckeye Chuck the official State Groundhog in 1979.
Staten Island Chuck, also referred to more formally as Charles G. Hogg, resides in the Staten Island Zoo in Staten Island, New York. He is noted as the official groundhog meteorologist of New York City. The Staten Island Zoo claims that Chuck has correctly predicted the duration of winter 80 percent of the time since the 1980s.
Wiarton Willie is a famous Canadian groundhog who lives in the community of Wiarton in Bruce County, Ontario. Although the original Wiarton Willie died in 1999, the Wiarton groundhog day celebrations continue each year with the original Willie's successors, referred to as "Wee Willie."
The original Wiarton Willie lived to the advanced age of 22, and was found dead only two days before Groundhog Day in 1999. The organizers were unable to find a replacement, and instead marked Groundhog Day by revealing "Willie" in a coffin. He had been dressed in a tuxedo, had coins over his eyes, and a carrot between his paws. A scandal ensued when it transpired that the real Willie had in fact decomposed, and the body in the coffin was that of an older, stuffed groundhog.
The Associated Press was obliged to issue a retraction on its wires.
