It's Groundhog Day all over again ...
Source: Agencies |
February 3, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
They've bitten their handlers, refused to budge from their beds and lost their shadow-casting jobs to potbellied pigs. And, it turns out, not all groundhogs are really that good at predicting the weather.
Not even Bill Murray as a movie weatherman escaped a couple of nips from the furry rodents on the set of his popular "Groundhog Day" that put the annual shadow or no shadow ritual on a loop in 1993.
"Of course, the groundhog's most glaring offense is that its legendary weather predictions are complete bunk," said Linda Lombardi, a former zookeeper who has a blog and a book called "Animals Behaving Badly."
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration analyzed the forecasts of groundhog prognosticators from 1988 to 2010 and concluded there was no correlation between predictions and the length of winter.
Bad forecasting aside, history has a few ugly moments involving groundhog misbehavior, when designated groundhogs - and some notable surrogates - are supposed to step into the sun each February 2 and predict six more weeks of winter, or not. Legend has it that if the groundhog sees his shadow, winter will last for six more weeks.
Couple of nips
As always, the biggest Groundhog Day ruckus centers on Punxsutawney Phil, the seer of seers, sage of sages, prognosticator of prognosticators in Pennsylvania. But not even Phil has kept his nose clean.
"Phil is not a pet. Phil is truly not as warm and cuddly as perhaps you would want him to be," said Mike Johnston, vice president of Phil's Inner Circle in Punxsutawney, where Groundhog Day began. "He will make his feelings known with a nip, maybe a couple of nips. If his handler continues to do things that displease him he's likely to nail you."
Charles G. Hogg, aka Staten Island Chuck, chomped on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's left index finger in 2009 when he tried to coax him into the open using an ear of corn.
"We try not to speak of it," said Mary Lee Montalvo, a spokeswoman for Chuck's stomping ground, the Staten Island Zoo.
"They have tried to make up. They've done a pretty good job. We've had no incidents since. I think Chuck thought the mayor was taking his food," she said.
A handful of other groundhog forecasters have impeccable manners, including General Beauregard Lee at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, outside Atlanta. The difference is nobody lays hands on the general, said Stefanie Reeves, his publicist.
"He comes out on his own, or he doesn't. We don't control him. He controls us," she said.
The St Louis Zoo gave up on Groundhog Day after their resident Lilly first refused to leave her burrow, then died of old age in 2009.
In the 1980s, the zoo had Puck, who ran away right before Groundhog Day in 1989, after two years of faulty forecasts. A potbellied pig named Bacon was deputized in 1996, when the zoo ran out of groundhogs.
Groundhog Day was once a big deal in Niagara, Kentucky, where another potbellied pig, Arnold, was trotted out to make the prediction after the resident groundhog ate his way out of his enclosure.
Not even Bill Murray as a movie weatherman escaped a couple of nips from the furry rodents on the set of his popular "Groundhog Day" that put the annual shadow or no shadow ritual on a loop in 1993.
"Of course, the groundhog's most glaring offense is that its legendary weather predictions are complete bunk," said Linda Lombardi, a former zookeeper who has a blog and a book called "Animals Behaving Badly."
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration analyzed the forecasts of groundhog prognosticators from 1988 to 2010 and concluded there was no correlation between predictions and the length of winter.
Bad forecasting aside, history has a few ugly moments involving groundhog misbehavior, when designated groundhogs - and some notable surrogates - are supposed to step into the sun each February 2 and predict six more weeks of winter, or not. Legend has it that if the groundhog sees his shadow, winter will last for six more weeks.
Couple of nips
As always, the biggest Groundhog Day ruckus centers on Punxsutawney Phil, the seer of seers, sage of sages, prognosticator of prognosticators in Pennsylvania. But not even Phil has kept his nose clean.
"Phil is not a pet. Phil is truly not as warm and cuddly as perhaps you would want him to be," said Mike Johnston, vice president of Phil's Inner Circle in Punxsutawney, where Groundhog Day began. "He will make his feelings known with a nip, maybe a couple of nips. If his handler continues to do things that displease him he's likely to nail you."
Charles G. Hogg, aka Staten Island Chuck, chomped on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's left index finger in 2009 when he tried to coax him into the open using an ear of corn.
"We try not to speak of it," said Mary Lee Montalvo, a spokeswoman for Chuck's stomping ground, the Staten Island Zoo.
"They have tried to make up. They've done a pretty good job. We've had no incidents since. I think Chuck thought the mayor was taking his food," she said.
A handful of other groundhog forecasters have impeccable manners, including General Beauregard Lee at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, outside Atlanta. The difference is nobody lays hands on the general, said Stefanie Reeves, his publicist.
"He comes out on his own, or he doesn't. We don't control him. He controls us," she said.
The St Louis Zoo gave up on Groundhog Day after their resident Lilly first refused to leave her burrow, then died of old age in 2009.
In the 1980s, the zoo had Puck, who ran away right before Groundhog Day in 1989, after two years of faulty forecasts. A potbellied pig named Bacon was deputized in 1996, when the zoo ran out of groundhogs.
Groundhog Day was once a big deal in Niagara, Kentucky, where another potbellied pig, Arnold, was trotted out to make the prediction after the resident groundhog ate his way out of his enclosure.
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