Groundhog Day: five facts about Punxsutawney Phil

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Groundhog Day: five facts about Punxsutawney Phil

Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Groundhog Day Tuesday, which means six more weeks of winter. Here are five things you might not know about this American tradition.

Gene J. Puskar / AP

Punxsutawney Phil after emerging from his burrow on Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., to see his shadow and forecast six more weeks of winter weather Tuesday.

By Husna Haq Correspondent

Feb. 02, 2010, 12:38 p.m. ET

Happy Groundhog Day!

Tuesday marks yet another dubious American holiday, complete with its own greeting cards. Like so many other holidays, Groundhog Day seems an unnecessary exercise in self-inflicted torture: We roust ourselves at the crack of dawn in the depths of winter so an overweight rodent from a peewee town in Pennsylvania can tell us we have to look forward to six more weeks of winter (Yes, Phil saw his shadow).

And then there鈥檚 the poor rodent itself 鈥� yanked from cozy hibernation to satisfy a whim (no wonder New York鈥檚 Staten Island Chuck bit Mayor Bloomberg鈥檚 finger last year).

Regardless, we鈥檒l be celebrating Groundhog Day for many moons to come. So here鈥檚 some Groundhog Day trivia with which to impress your friends:

鈥� Punxsutawney Phil is immortal. Well, practically. According to folklore, the furry oracle was born in 1887, making him 123 years old. The average groundhog lives less than 10 years, making Phil a statistical anomaly 鈥� or not Phil (remember when Daddy came home from the vet with Harry the hamster, only Harry looked different?). Fans of Punxsutawney Phil insist a magical 鈥渆lixir of life鈥� keep Phil looking youthful.

鈥� Phil鈥檚 about as accurate as your average meteorologist. That is to say, not very. The US National Climatic Data Center estimates Phil鈥檚 forecast is correct only about 40 percent of the time. (Perhaps he could find a job at the Weather Channel.)

鈥� Phil鈥檚 got competition. Watch out, Phil: prognostication is popular among the rodent set. New York鈥檚 got Staten Island Chuck, Ohio鈥檚 got Buckeye Chuck, and Georgia鈥檚 got good ol' General Beauregard Lee. There鈥檚 more. Wiarton Willie, Dunkirk Dave, Shubenacadie Sam, French Creek Freddie, Balzac Billy, the list goes on.

鈥� Phil鈥檚 gone high-tech. He may hail from the 19th century, but Phil鈥檚 getting word out in a decidedly 21st century way: he鈥檚 texting. And YouTubing. Phil text messaged fans his forecast Tuesday morning (followers signed up in advance by texting 鈥楪roundhog鈥� to 247365), and he has his own channel. And like everyone else and their mother, he鈥檚 on .

鈥� There鈥檚 no Groundhog Day in Alaska. For which we can thank Sarah Palin. There aren鈥檛 many groundhogs in Alaska, so then-Gov. Sarah Palin signed a bill last year officially designating February 2 as Marmot Day. The marmot can't forecast the weather, but he may be the only rodent that can see Russia from his burrow.