ten things tuesday...

Today is Groundhog Day.

1) The groundhog's full name is "Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators, and Weather Prophet Extraordinary"

2) The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck (Marmota monax), is a member of the squirrel family.

3) Groundhogs in the wild eat succulent green plants, such as dandelion, clover, and grasses.

4) According to handlers John Griffiths and Ben Hughes, Phil weighs 15 pounds and thrives on dog food and ice cream in his climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library.

5) Up on Gobbler's Knob, Phil is placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on stage before being pulled out at 7:25 a.m. to make his prediction.

6) When German settlers arrived in the 1700s, they brought a tradition known as Candlemas Day, which has an early origin in the pagan celebration of Imbolc. It came at the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Superstition held that if the weather was fair, the second half of Winter would be stormy and cold. For the early Christians in Europe, it was the custom on Candlemas Day for clergy to bless candles and distribute them to the people in the dark of Winter. A lighted candle was placed in each window of the home. The day's weather continued to be important. If the sun came out February 2, halfway between Winter and Spring, it meant six more weeks of wintry weather.

7) The earliest American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College in February 4, 1841.

8) The name Punxsutawney comes from the Indian name for the location "ponksad-uteney" which means "the town of the sandflies."

9) Statistics show that the Punxsutawney Phil has been right only 39% of the time.

10) Phil provides his prediction in “Groundhogese”; the guy in the black top hat renders the official “translation.”



Most information from: Stormfax