Groundhog Day!

While you wait with bated breath to find out if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow in the morning, here's a groundhog quiz to keep you occupied.

Groundhog Day is February 2nd. What's the astronomical significance?
Answer
▼ Groundhog day is half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Winter is Half over! In fact, February 2nd is considered the beginning of spring in the Celtic Calendar. Groundhog day is one of the Great Cross-Quarter Days, some others being May Day and Halloween.

What do candles have to do with Groundhog day?
Answer
▼ The origin of Groundhog’s Day is Imbolc, a Celtic holiday celebrating the return of light, and the first stirrings of spring. The early Catholic church tried to usurp Imbolc by Creating St. Brigid’s Day on February 1st, St. Brigid being "the Bringer of light". That didn’t work. Folks still celebrated Imbolc. Candles bring light. So they came up with Candlemas Day, February 2nd, a day of purification and to bless candles.

How did groundhogs become weather prognosticators?
Answer
▼ In Europe, people noticed that Badgers and hedgehogs became active in early February. From this they deduced the animals knew that winter was over. Germans, settling in the new world, simply substituted groundhogs (there being no badgers in New England).
As for woodchucks’ weather prognostication abilities, a 1600’s proverb says:
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight,
If on Candlemas it shower and rain,
Winter is gone and not come again.
So, if a groundhog sees his shadow that means it is fair and bright (and likely cold) = 6 more weeks of winter. If the groundhog does not see his shadow that means it’s cloudy (and likely warmer) = winter will soon be over.

Are you likely to see a groundhog on February 2nd in Maine?
Answer
▼ About a snowball’s chance in hell. True, deep hibernators, groundhogs are "fast asleep", "snug" in their burrows on their special holiday. Their body temperature drops from their active level of 99F to 40F, and their heart rate slows from 80 to 5 beats per minute, and respiration drops from 16 breaths per minute to just 4. Really these guys are "slow asleep" and not very cozy and snug, their bodies just above ambient burrow temperatures.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Answer
▼ If a woodchuck could chuck wood, a woodchuck would chuck all he could!

A Woodchuck? A Groundhog? A Whistlepig?
Answer
▼ All are monikers for Marmota monax, "the muttering digger"
"Woodchuck" is a derivation of the Algonquin word for Marmota monax, "Wejack" Marmota comes from marmonner "to mutter, to mumble"
Monax means "Digger" in a tribal tongue from the Carolinas.
Whistlepig refers to their whistle alarm calls.
WoodChuck, because they live along the edge of the woods and reminded early farmers of piglets, which were called "chucks".

How did the Original Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Celebrate on February 2nd?
Answer
▼ They loved groundhogs in the culinary sense. In the early 1880’s six Punxsutawneyans in search for a cure for spring fever, set out with hoes and jugs of liquor to catch them some groundhogs! They dug up several hibernating groundhogs, whacked them on the head and fricasseed them over a campfire. Groundhog stew and generous libations put the revelers in such a good mood that they repeated the outing each year. http://www.groundhog.org/

No matter how you celebrate, have a very

Happy Groundhog Day!
Without a shadow of a doubt,
The Dorr Museum of Natural History