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Groundhog Day: Five absurd facts you probably didn’t know about the mammal-based festival

-Dave Fulk

Every year since 1886, crowds as large of 40,000 have gathered in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on the morning of February 2 to watch a groundhog – a species of small, furry mammal – emerge from a burrow on Gobbler’s Knob. According to folklore, if the groundhog sees his shadow, then winter will endure for six more weeks. If it is cloudy, then spring will come early that year.

But that’s just the start of it. Here are five facts you never knew about Groundhog Day:

1) Punxsutawney Phil, the legendary groundhog who makes the prediction, has reputedly been operating for over 125 years, with this year’s edition marking his 129th appearance. This is despite the lifespan of a groundhog usually being less than six years.

2) Phil offers his prediction in ‘groundhogese’, a language only understood by the current president of the Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle, who helpfully translates the proclamation.

3) The website www.stormfax.com claims that Punxsutawney Phil’s forecasts have only been correct 39 per cent of the time, contradicting the figure stated on www.groundhog.org, which is 100 per cent.

4) Groundhogs are also referred to as ‘woodchucks’, forming the basis for the tongue-twister: ‘How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?’

5) Groundhog Day is celebrated beyond Pennsylvania. In Alaska, the festival is observed as ‘Marmot Day’, due to an unfortunate dearth of groundhogs in the state.