“Groundhog Day” and DAD’s BIRTHDAY”
It wasn’t always called Groundhog Day
If you can’t find yourself a groundhog to ogle this February 2, simply step outside and recite this old English rhyme:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.
Modern Groundhog Day evolved from Europe’s Candlemas Day, a celebration of light both literal (the days are growing longer) and religious (Candelmas invokes baby Jesus’ first visit to the Temple in Jerusalem). It’s an olde knight’s tale that the weather on Candlemas will be the exact opposite of the weather six weeks hence—yet somehow, centuries later, a few lines of scientifically suspect verse remain the basis of an annual holiday. Check out these other unusual holidays that everyone should celebrate.
They’re surprisingly romantic
Despite their intense hibernation habits, there’s evidence that male groundhogs wake up early (after about three months) to start looking for potential mates. “Typically, there’s a male that has a territory that includes several female burrows. And there’s some competition for that territory,” Stam Zervanos, retired professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University in Reading, told National Geographic. “They try to defend that territory, and they go from burrow to burrow to find out if that female is still there.” Groundhogs start visiting females as early as February, and then go back to sleep until mating season starts in March. Putting relationships before sleep? That’s what we call dedication. Check out these 11 monogamous animals that mate for life.
Sleeping is their favorite hobby
Few animals are as dedicated to hibernating as groundhogs. Known as “true hibernators,” they hibernate from late fall to late winter or early spring, which can add up to as many as six months of deep sleep, depending on their climate. During this time, their body temperatures can drop below 20 degrees Celsius, and their heart rates slow from 80 beats per minute to just five.
“And let us not forget…”
First things first: Groundhogs are lousy weather predictors
As the myth of Groundhog Day goes, if a groundhog sees its shadow on February 2, winter will last another six weeks. And while Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers maintain 100 percent accuracy in his seasonal predictions, the numbers tell a different story. Stormfax calculated that Phil has seen a 39 percent forecasting success rate since 1887. According to a Canadian groundhog study, this is just 2 percent higher than the average success rate of 37 percent (the most accurate hog-nosticators in their study residing in Yellowknife, Canada, with a 50 percent accuracy). In other words, a gambling man would be better off flipping a coin.
“Oh – Can not forget to wish my “DAD” a very “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” today – as he was born February 2nd – too!”
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