Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day (Pennsylvania German: Grund'sau dåk, Grundsaudaag, Grundsow Dawg, Murmeltiertag; Nova Scotia: Daks Day[1]) is a popular American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks; but if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.

This article is about the American tradition. For the film, see Groundhog Day (film). For other uses, see Groundhog Day (disambiguation).

Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day 2005 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
Observed byCanada
United States
TypeCultural
SignificancePredicts the arrival of spring
CelebrationsAnnouncing whether a groundhog sees its shadow after it emerges from its burrow
Date2nd February
FrequencyAnnual
Related toCandlemas

While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.[2]

The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger (German: Dachs) is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on the Christian Holy Day of Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter.

The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, centering around a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most attended. Grundsow Lodges in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the southeastern part of the state celebrate them as well. Other cities in the United States and Canada have also adopted the event.

History

Origins

The Pennsylvania Dutch were immigrants from Germanic-speaking areas of Europe. The Germans already had a tradition of marking Candlemas (February 2) as "Badger Day" (Dachstag), where if a badger emerging found it to be a sunny day thereby casting a shadow, it foreboded the prolonging of winter by four more weeks.

Germany

Candlemas is a primarily Catholic festival but also known in the German Protestant (Lutheran) church. In folk religion, various traditions and superstitions continue to be linked with the holiday, although this was discouraged by the Protestant Reformers in the 16th century.[3] Notably, several traditions akin to weather lores use Candlemas' weather to predict the start of spring.

The weather-predicting animal on Candlemas was usually the badger, although regionally the animal was the bear or the fox.[4] The original weather-predicting animal in Germany had been the bear, another hibernating mammal, but when they grew scarce the lore became altered.[5]

Similarity to the groundhog lore has been noted for the German formula "Sonnt sich der Dachs in der Lichtmeßwoche, so geht er auf vier Wochen wieder zu Loche" (If the badger sunbathes during Candlemas-week, for four more weeks he will be back in his hole).[lower-alpha 1][6] A slight variant is found in a collection of weather lore (bauernregeln, lit. "farmers' rules") printed in Austria in 1823.[7]

Groundhog as badger

So the same tradition as the Germans, except that winter's spell would be prolonged for six weeks instead of four, was maintained by the Pennsylvanians on Groundhog Day.[8] In Germany, the animal was dachs or badger. For the Pennsylvania Dutch, it became the dox which in Deitsch referred to "groundhog".[lower-alpha 2][9][10]

The standard term for "groundhog" was grun′daks (from German dachs), with the regional variant in York County being grundsau, a direct translation of the English name, according to a 19th-century book on the dialect.[11] The form was a regional variant according to one 19th century source.[11] However, the weather superstition that begins "Der zwet Hær′ning is Grund′sau dåk. Wânn di grundau îr schâtte sent ... ("February second is Groundhog day. If the groundhog sees its shadow ...)" is given as common to all 14 counties in Dutch Pennsylvania Country, in a 1915 monograph.[lower-alpha 3][12]

In The Thomas R. Brendle Collection of Pennsylvania German Folklore, Brendle preserved the following lore from the local Pennsylvania German dialect:

Wann der Dachas sei Schadde seht im Lichtmess Marye, dann geht er widder in's Loch un beleibt noch sechs Woche drin. Wann Ilchtmess Marye awwer drieb is, dann bleibt der dachs haus un's watt noch enanner Friehyaahr. (When the groundhog sees his shadow on the morning of February 2, he will again go into his hole and remain there for six weeks. But if the morning of February 2 is overcast, the groundhog will remain outside and there will be another spring.)[13]

The form grundsow has been used by the lodge in Allentown and elsewhere.[14] Brendle also recorded the name "Grundsaudag" (Groundhog day in Lebanon County) and "Daxdaag" (Groundhog day in Northampton County).[15]

Victor Hugo, in "Les Misérables," (1864) discusses the day as follows:

"...it was the second of February, that ancient Candlemas-day whose treacherous sun, the precursor of six weeks of cold, inspired Matthew Laensberg with the two lines, which have deservedly become classic:

'Qu'il luise ou qu'il luiserne, L'ours rentre en sa caverne.'

(Let it gleam or let it glimmer, The bear goes back into his cave.)"

- Hugo, Victor. "Les Misérables." Trans. Fahnestock and MacAfee, based on Wilbour. Signet Classics, NY, 1987. p. 725.

Bear-rat

The groundhog was once also known by the obsolete Latin alias Arctomys monax. The genus name signified "bear-rat".[16][17] The European marmot is of the same genus and was formerly called Arctomys alpinus. It was speculated that the European counterpart might have lore similar to the groundhog attached to it.[16][lower-alpha 4]

Simpler Candlemas lore
See also: weather lore

The German version, with the introduction of the badger (or other beasts) was an expansion on a more simple tradition that if the weather was sunny and clear on Candlemas Day people expected winter to continue.[8] The simpler version is summarized in the English (Scots dialect) couplet that runs "If Candlemas is fair and clear / There'll be twa winters in the year",[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6] with equivalent phrases in French and German.[19] And the existence of a corresponding Latin couplet has been suggested as evidence of the great antiquity of this tradition.[lower-alpha 7][19]

In fact, the Christian Candlemas itself was an assimilation of the Roman rite for the goddess Februa with a procession on February 2, to honor her, according to Yoder. The Roman calendar, in turn, had Celtic origins. Candlemas concurs with Imbolc, one of the Celtic 'cross-quarter days', the four days which marked the midpoints between solstice and equinox.[21][20]

British and Gaelic calendars

Scholar Rhys Carpenter in 1946 emphasized that the Badger Day tradition was strong in Germany, but absent in the British Isles, and he referred to this as a reason that the U.S. Groundhog Day was not brought by immigrants from these places.[22]

There did exist a belief among Roman Catholics in Britain that the hedgehog predicted the length of winter, or so it has been claimed, but without demonstration of its age, in a publication by the Scotland-born American journalist Thomas C. MacMillan in 1886,[19] and American writer/journalist Samuel Adams Drake's book published in 1900.[23][lower-alpha 8]

In the Gaelic calendar of Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, Brigid's Day (February 1) is a day for predicting the weather.[24][25] While in Scotland the animal that heralds spring on this day is a snake,[26] and on the Isle of Man a large bird,[27] in Ireland folklorist Kevin Danaher records lore of hedgehogs being observed for this omen:

In Irish folk tradition St. Brighid's Day, 1 February, is the first day of Spring, and thus of the farmer's year. ... To see a hedgehog was a good weather sign, for the hedgehog comes come out of the hole in which he has spent the winter, looks about to judge the weather, and returns to his burrow if bad weather is going to continue. If he stays out, it means that he knows the mild weather is coming.[24]

The groundhog (Marmota monax) is a hibernating rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels.

United States

The observance of Groundhog Day in the United States first occurred in German communities in Pennsylvania, according to known records. The earliest mention of Groundhog Day is an entry on February 2, 1840, in the diary of James L. Morris of Morgantown, in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, according to the book on the subject by Don Yoder. This was a Welsh enclave but the diarist was commenting on his neighbors who were of German stock.[lower-alpha 9][lower-alpha 10][20][28]

Punxsutawney beginnings

The first reported news of a Groundhog Day observance was arguably made by the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in 1886:[lower-alpha 11] "up to the time of going to press, the beast has not seen its shadow". However, it was not until the following year in 1887 that the first Groundhog Day considered "official" was commemorated there,[29] with a group making a trip to the Gobbler's Knob part of town to consult the groundhog. People have gathered annually at the spot for the event ever since.[30][18]

Clymer Freas (1867–1942)[lower-alpha 12] who was city editor at the Punxsutawney Spirit is credited as the "father" who conceived the idea of "Groundhog Day".[31][lower-alpha 13] It has also been suggested that Punxsutawney was where all the Groundhog Day events originated, from where it spread to other parts of the United States and Canada.[33]

The Groundhog Day celebrations of the 1880s were carried out by the Punxsutawney Elks Lodge. The lodge members were the "genesis" of the Groundhog Club formed later, which continued the Groundhog Day tradition. But the lodge started out being interested in the groundhog as a game animal for food. It had started to serve groundhog at the lodge, and had been organizing a hunting party on a day each year in late summer.[34]

The chronologies given are somewhat inconsistent in the literature. The first "Groundhog Picnic" was held in 1887 according to a book for popular reading by an academic,[31] but given as post-circa-1889 by a local historian in a journal. The historian states that around 1889 the meat was served in the lodge's banquet, and the organized hunt started after that.[34]

Either way, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was formed in 1899, and continued the hunt and "Groundhog Feast", which took place annually in September.[35][36] The "hunt" portion of it became increasingly a ritualized formality, because the practical procurement of meat had to occur well ahead of time for marinating. A drink called the "groundhog punch" was also served.[lower-alpha 14][37][38] The flavor has been described as a "cross between pork and chicken".[39] The hunt and feast did not attract enough outside interest, and the practice discontinued.[35]

The groundhog was not named Phil until 1961, possibly as an indirect reference to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[40]

Punxsutawney today

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds as large as 40,000 gather each year[41] (nearly eight times the year-round population of the town).[42] The average draw had been about 2,000 until the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, which is set at the festivities in Punxsutawney, after which attendance rose to about 10,000.[35] The official Phil is pretended to be a supercentenarian, having been the same forecasting beast since 1887.[35] In 2019, the 133rd year of the tradition, the groundhog was summoned to come out at 7:25 am on February 2, but did not see its shadow.[43] Fans of Punxsutawney Phil awaited his arrival starting at 6:00 a.m., thanks to a live stream provided by Visit Pennsylvania. The live stream has been a tradition for the past several years, allowing more people than ever to watch the animal meteorologist.[44]

Other locations

United States

The Slumbering Groundhog Lodge, which was formed in 1907, has carried out the ceremonies that take place in Quarryville, Pennsylvania.[45] It used to be a contending rival to Punxsutawney over the Groundhog Day fame. It employs a taxidermic specimen (stuffed woodchuck).[35]

In southeastern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Lodges (Grundsow Lodges) celebrate the holiday with fersommlinge,[46] social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment. The Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language spoken at the event, and those who speak English pay a penalty, usually in the form of a nickel, dime, or quarter per word spoken, with the money put into a bowl in the center of the table.[47]

In Milltown, New Jersey, Milltown Mel predicts the weather at the American Legion in an early morning ceremony. The event has gained much attention and each year grows larger and larger. During weekdays, people will often attend before school or work. Coffee and Doughnuts are donated by the event’s sponsor Bronson & Guthlein Funeral Home. Mel is housed year round at the funeral home. She has an outdoor area as well as an indoor, climate controlled, cage. She is cared for by the owner of Bronson and one of his tenents, who is an volunteer EMT with the local rescue squad. [48]

In Midwest America, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is the self-proclaimed "Groundhog Capital of the World".[49] This title taken in response to The Punxsutawney Spirit 1952 newspaper article describing Sun Prairie as a “remote two cow village buried somewhere in the wilderness…”[50] In 2015, Jimmy the groundhog bit the ear of Mayor Jon Freund [51] and the story quickly went viral worldwide. The next day a mayoral proclamation absolved Jimmy XI of any wrongdoing.[52]

Buckeye Chuck, Ohio's official State Groundhog, is one of two weather predicting groundhogs. He resides in Marion, Ohio.

Staten Island Chuck is the official weather-forecasting woodchuck for New York City.[53] Dunkirk Dave (a stage name for numerous groundhogs that have filled the role since 1960) is the local groundhog for Western New York, handled by Bob Will, a typewriter repairman who runs a rescue shelter for groundhogs.[54][55]

In Washington, D.C., the Dupont Circle Groundhog Day event features Potomac Phil, another taxidermic specimen. From his first appearance in 2012 to 2018, Phil's spring predictions invariably agreed with those of the more lively Punxsutawney Phil, who made his predictions half an hour earlier. In addition, Phil always predicted correctly six more months of political gridlock. However, after being accused of collusion in 2018, Potomac Phil contradicted Punxsutawney Phil in 2019 and, further, predicted two more years of political insanity.[56]

In Raleigh, NC, an annual event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences includes Sir Walter Wally. According to museum officials, Wally has been correct 58% of the time vs. Punxsutawney Phil's 39%.[57]

Elsewhere in the American South, the General Beauregard Lee makes predictions from Lilburn, Georgia (later Butts County, Georgia). The University of Dallas in Irving, Texas has boasted of hosting the second largest Groundhog celebration in the world.[58]

Canada

The day is observed with various ceremonies at other locations in North America beyond the United States.[59]

Due to Nova Scotia's Atlantic Time Zone, Shubenacadie Sam makes the first Groundhog Day prediction in North America.[60] "Daks Day" (from the German dachs) is Groundhog Day in the dialect of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.[1]

In French Canada, Fred la marmotte of Val-d'Espoir[61][62] has been the representative forecaster for the province of Quebec since 2009.[62][63] A study also shows that in Quebec, the marmot or groundhog (siffleux) are regarded as Candlemas weather-predicting beasts in some scattered spots, but the bear is the more usual animal.[64][lower-alpha 15]

Wiarton Willie forecasts annually from Wiarton, Ontario.[65]

Balzac Billy, is the "Prairie Prognosticator", a man-sized groundhog mascot who prognosticates weather on Groundhog's Day from Balzac, Alberta.

Russia

In 2017, Groundhog Day was scheduled to be observed at zoos in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Samara, Russia.[66]

Accuracy

In Pennsylvania, Punxsutawney Phil has become a popular tradition. On February 2, people within the city will gather to find out whether or not Phil's shadow is revealed. With that, he will allegedly determine whether spring will soon begin by not seeing his shadow, or if winter will ensue for six more weeks.

Statistics

Punxsutawney Phil's statistics are kept by the Pennsylvania's Groundhog Club which cares for the animal. Phil has predicted 103 forecasts for winter and just 17 for an early spring.[67] Most assessments of Phil's accuracy have given accuracy lower than would be expected with random chance, with Stormfax Almanac giving an estimate of 39%,[68] and meteorologist Tim Roche of Weather Underground giving a 36% accuracy rate between 1969 and 2016 (a range chosen because local weather data was most reliable from 1969 onward) and a 47% record in that time span when predicting early spring.[67] The National Centers for Environmental Information, using a basic metric of above-normal temperatures for early spring and below-normal temperatures for more winter, placed Punxsutawney Phil's accuracy at 40% for the ten-year period preceding 2019.[69] Other poor results from analysis are reported by the Farmer's Almanac (which itself has been known for forecasts of questionable accuracy) as "exactly 50 percent" accuracy,[70] and The National Geographic Society reporting only 28% success.[71] But a Middlebury College team found that a long-term analysis of temperature high/low predictions were 70% accurate, although when the groundhog predicted early spring it was usually wrong.[72] Canadian meteorologist Cindy Day has estimated that Nova Scotia's "Shubenacadie Sam" has an accuracy rate of about 45% compared to 25% for Wiarton Willy in Ontario.[73]

Part of the problem with pinning down an accuracy rate for the groundhog is that what constitutes an early spring is not clearly defined. Assessments of the accuracy of other groundhogs such as Staten Island Chuck do use an objective formula (in Chuck's case, a majority of days that reach 40 °F (4 °C) in New York City between Groundhog Day and the March equinox).[74]

Pseudoscientific evaluation

Prediction based on an animal's behavior used to be given more credence in the past when stores of food became scarce as winter progressed.[75]

One theory states that the groundhog naturally comes out of hibernation in central Pennsylvania in early February because of the increasing average temperature. Under this theory, if German settlement had been centered further north, Groundhog Day would take place at a later date.[76] However, the observed behavior of groundhogs in central New Jersey was that they mostly come out of their burrows in mid-March, regardless of Groundhog Day weather.[77]

It should also be noted that there are several different ways of defining when spring begins, but by some common methods of doing so, the first day of spring is around March 20th, which is always just under seven weeks after February 2nd, even in leap years. Also the idea of "spring arriving early" is a highly subjective notion which could arguably refer to almost anything, from several days to several weeks. At any rate, Groundhog Day serves as a convenient and whimsical milestone to mark the end of the darkest three months of the year (November, December, and January in the Northern Hemisphere), and bookends nicely with Halloween, the two holidays being opposite and roughly equidistant in time from the Winter Solstice, with Halloween festivities starting after sunset and taking place in the nighttime, and Groundhog Day being a celebration of sunrise and morning.

Similar customs
See also: Weather lore § animal signs, and Weather lore § February

In Croatia and Serbia, Orthodox Christians have a tradition that on February 2 (Candlemas) or February 15 (Sretenje, The Meeting of the Lord), the bear will awaken from winter dormancy, and if it sees (meets) its own shadow in this sleepy and confused state, it will get scared and go back to sleep for an additional 40 days, thus prolonging the winter. Thus, if it is sunny on Sretenje, it is a sign that the winter is not over yet. If it is cloudy, it is a good sign that the winter is about to end.[78]

Similarly in Germany, on the 27 June, they recognize the Seven Sleepers' Day (Siebenschläfertag). If it rains that day, the rest of summer is supposedly going to be rainy. As well, in the United Kingdom, the 15th of July is known as St. Swithin's day.[79] It was traditionally believed that, if it rained on that day, it would rain for the next 40 days and nights.[79]

Using groundhogs for this method of prognostication did not gain mass notoriety until the release of the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. The movie became the 13th highest grossing of the year, with over $70 million at the box office.[80] Over time, the movie became a cult classic and significantly increased awareness and attendance at Groundhog Day events.[35]

Notes
  1. Noted by Uwe Johnson; the formula was printed in the Voß un Haas "Fox and Hare" calendars of Mecklenburg.
  2. "Of course everybody knows that February 2 is groundhog day. If the dox (the dialect word for groundhog) sees its shadow on this day, the belief is that six weeks of bad weather will follow".
  3. The letter "â" is actually "a with circumflex below".
  4. Signed "S. S. R." of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Note that S. S. Rathvon wrote the editorial "The Ground-Hog" and "More of the Ground-hogs" where he refers to the creature as "Old Arctomyx" in the editorial in the March 1884 issue of the Lancaster Farmer XV:3.
  5. A couplet the same as this except "two winters" in standard English is given in Davis (1985), p. 103, alongside two other variants.
  6. "Second Winter"[18] appears to be a neologism that paraphrases "two winters".
  7. "Si Sol splenescat Maria purificante / Major erit glacies post festum quam fuit ante". Note that Maria purificante or The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the reference to Candlemas day, since this is the biblical event that Candlemas is supposed to commemorate.[20]
  8. Drake also states that the German lore about the badger predicting the winter's duration was firmly accepted in New England. The groundhog, badger/bear, and hedgehog are all noted as paralleling each other.
  9. February 2, 1840, read: "Today the Germans say the groundhog comes out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he returns in and remains there 40 days."
  10. Some sources stated that Morris's entry of February 4, 1841, was the oldest. It read: "Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate."[9]
  11. Some books attribute this positively to Clymer Freas.
  12. Also styled H. C. Freas, H. Clymer Freas, or Clymer H. Freas
  13. Other contemporaries of Freas (his colleagues at the paper and fellow-members of the club, etc.) have been given credit for the promotion of Groundhog Day: W. O. Smith, another editor of the paper and later elected to U. S. Congress, cartoonist C. M. Payne, and John P. Cowan of the Pittsburgh Gazette.[32]
  14. a combination of vodka, milk, eggs and orange juice, among many other ingredients.
  15. There were beliefs in Switzerland and France that the marmot predicted the weather, according to MacMillan.[19] "S. S. R." also speculated there might be similar lore for the European marmot, Arctomys alpinus.[16]
gollark: Yes. You refuse to acknowledge an obvious truth.
gollark: I don't have to impersonate myself.
gollark: I am Olivia.
gollark: Lots of "obvious patterns" fall apart if you look at large n and such.
gollark: That isn't rigorous.

References

Citations
  1. Poteet, Lewis J. (2004) [1988], The South Shore Phrase Book (New, revised, and expanded ed.), Hantsport: Lancelot Press
  2. Lewis, Tanya (February 2, 2017). "Groundhog Day: How Often Does Punxsutawney Phil Get It Right?". Live Science.
  3. Yoder (2003), p. 42.
  4. Yoder (2003), pp. 52–53.
  5. Yoder (2003), p. 54.
  6. Uwe Johnson, cited by Grambow, Jürgen (1994), "Möglichkeiten einer intellektuellen Kritik an diesem Mecklenburg", Johnson-Jahrbuch, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1, p. 77
  7. Lewenau, Joseph Arnold Ritter von (1823), Der angewandte Fresenius; oder, Sammlung geordneter allgemeiner Witterungs- und sogenannter Bauernregeln, Vienna, J.G. Mösle, p. 20: "Wenn sich der Dachs zu Lichtmeß sonnt, so gehet er wieder auf vier Wochen in sein Loch. (If the badger is in the sun at Candlemas, he will have to go back into his hole for another four weeks)"
  8. Yoder (2003), p. 52.
  9. Shoemaker, Alfred L. (February 1, 1954), February Lore, 5 (download Archived December 25, 2017, at the Wayback Machine)
  10. dachs is glossed as meaning "raccoon, groundhog, or short-legged dog" in : Lambert, Marcus Bachman (1924), "Pennsylvania-German Dictionary", Pennsylvania-German Society: 35
  11. Haldeman, Samuel Stehman (1872), Pennsylvania Dutch: A Dialect of South German with an Infusion of English, Reformed Church Publication Board, pp. 5–6
  12. Fogel, Edwin Miller (1915). Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans. 18. Philadelphia: American Germanica Press. p. 236.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  13. Thomas R. Brendle (1995). "1337". In C. Richard Beam (ed.). The Thomas R. Brendle Collection of Pennsylvania German Folklore. 1. Historic Schaefferstown, Inc. p. 82. ISBN 1-880976-11-0.
  14. Yoder (2003), pp. 67, 76.
  15. Brendle p. 86
  16. S.S.R. (February 15, 1890), "Arctomyx monax", American Notes and Queries, 4: 188
  17. Yoder (2003), pp. 54–57.
  18. "This Is the Story Behind Groundhog Day". Time. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  19. MacMillan, Thomas C., ed. (1886). Ground-Hog Day ― Candlemas. The Inter Ocean Curiosity Shop for the year 1885 (3 ed.). Chicago: The Inter Ocean Publishing Company. pp. 68–69.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  20. Kruesi, Margaret (Summer 2007). "Reviewed Work: Groundhog Day by Don Yoder". Journal of American Folklore. 120 (477): 367–368.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) JSTOR 20487565
  21. Yoder (2003), pp. 52, 42–43.
  22. Yoder (2003), p. 53.
  23. Drake, Samuel Adams (1900). The Myths and Fables of To-day. Frank T. Merill (illustr.). Boston: Lee and Shepard. pp. 43–44.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  24. Danaher, Kevin (1972), The Year in Ireland, Cork: Mercier, pp. 13–14, ISBN 1-85635-093-2, In Irish folk tradition St. Brighid's Day, 1 February, is the first day of Spring, and thus of the farmer's year. ... To see a hedgehog was a good weather sign, for the hedgehog comes come out of the hole in which he has spent the winter, looks about to judge the weather, and returns to his burrow if bad weather is going to continue. If he stays out, it means that he knows the mild weather is coming.
  25. Minard, Antone (2012), "Imbolc", The Celts, ABC-CLIO, 1, p. 444, ISBN 978-1-5988-4964-6
  26. {{Verse translation|Thig an nathair as an toll / Là donn Brìde, / Ged robh trì troighean dhen t-sneachd / Air leac an làir. |The serpent will come from the hole / On the brown Day of Bríde, / Though there should be three feet of snow / On the flat surface of the ground. – Carmichael, Alexander (1900) Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, Ortha Nan Gaidheal, Volume I, p. 169 The Sacred Texts Archive
  27. Briggs, Katharine (1976) An Encyclopedia of Fairies. New York, Pantheon Books. pp. 57–60. "On the Isle of Man, where She is known as Caillagh ny Groamagh, the Cailleach is said to have been seen on St. Bride's day in the form of a gigantic bird, carrying sticks in her beak."
  28. Yoder (2003), pp. 49, 54, 143, diary printed in "Folklore from the Diary of James L. Morris, 1845–1646", Pennsylvania Dutchman 3:17 (February 1, 1952)"
  29. Davis (1985), p. 110.
  30. Davis (1985), p. 109.
  31. Yoder (2003), p. 10.
  32. Davis (1985).
  33. Yoder (2003), Chapter II, "Punxsutawney to the World"
  34. Davis (1985), p. 106.
  35. Carlson, Peter (February 3, 2004). "His Moment In the Sun". The Washington Post. 23.
  36. Yoder (2003), p. 11.
  37. Davis (1985), p. 107.
  38. "The Original Groundhog Day Involved Eating the Groundhog". Time. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  39. Pittsburgh Gazette, September 27, 1903, cited by Davis (1985), p. 106, note 12.
  40. Lucas Reilly and Austin Thompson (February 1, 2019). Why Is Punxsutawney's Groundhog Called Phil? Mental Floss. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  41. Park, PhD, David (February 2, 2006). "Happy Groundhog Day to You!". Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2009.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  42. Yoder (2003), p. 9.
  43. Serena McMahon. "Groundhog Day 2019: Punxsutawney Phil Predicts An Early Spring." NPR.org. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  44. "What Time Does the Groundhog Come Out on Groundhog Day?". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  45. Davis (1985), p. 105.
  46. Yoder (2003), p. xii.
  47. Rosenberger, Homer Tope (1966). The Pennsylvania Germans: 1891–1965. Lancaster, PA: Pennsylvania German Society. pp. 194–199. OCLC 1745108.
  48. "Milltown, NJ Groundhog Day Webpage". Borough of Milltown.
  49. Kempton, Wesley. "Pennsylvania- Not the Groundhog Capital of the World?". KOWB, AM 1290.
  50. "Altoona Mirror Newspaper Archives, Jan 26, 1952". newspaperarchive.com.
  51. "Jimmy the Groundhog bites Sun Prairie mayor" – via YouTube.
  52. "Sun Prairie mayor pardons Jimmy the Groundhog". Action Reporter Media.
  53. Rosenberg, Eli (February 2, 2016). "Staten Island Groundhog Makes Star Turn, This Year Without de Blasio". N.Y./Region. New York, New York: The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
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Sources

Further reading
  • Old, W. C., and P. Billin-Frye (2004). The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman.
  • Pulling, A. F. (2001). Around Punxsutawney. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia.
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