All the groundhogs in North America saw their shadows today and are predicting six more weeks of winter. Can't say I'm overly surprised (when has winter ever ended before the mid March in Canada?) but it would have been a nice relief from the -20 weather we've had all January! The whole groundhog superstition began with western folklore claiming that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2nd there are another six weeks of winter yet to come.
Mark Engstrom, senior mammals curator at the Royal Ontario Museum, stated in a Toronto Star article today that groundhogs "come out early to mate and are influenced to leave their dens based on the amount of light and their need to procreate. They are not emerging because they think it is warm." My question is if any hibernating animal will do explain to me why we haven't fired these groundhogs for a more preferable animal?
February began with two of the warmest and sunniest days we've had all winter... I'm hoping the groundhogs were wrong on this one and that my horse shedding her winter coat early has a better pulse on mother nature!
For the full groundhog prediction checkout this Toronto Star article.
Babs
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Again this is something I just dont understand, there isnt a science behind the goundhog prediction - just another way for people to hope and pray spring comes earlier every year. When is spring coming?
ReplyDelete@Tyler
ReplyDeleteNever - we live in Canada...U want warm weather, move to Florida. I'll come too.
-Dave