The real deal behind Punxsutawney Phil

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35182353/ns/weather-livescience/

The real deal behind Punxsutawney Phil
Groundhog Day's main act lives, and eats, well thanks to German legend
Punxsutawney Phil is shown to the public on Feb. 2, 2009, when his handlers declared he had seen his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter.
Mon., Feb. 1, 2010

On Tuesday, Punxsutawney Phil will emerge from a little enclosure under an outdoor stump in the Pennsylvania town that bears his name to let us know if he sees his shadow, which will doom us to six more weeks of winter.

While this groundhog gets plenty of attention each Feb. 2, the other 364 days of the year America's most famous furry forecaster spends his time not in the ground but in an enclosure next to the children's section of the Punxsutawney Memorial Library with his "wife" Phyllis and a couple of other groundhogs.

"Phil is such an important marmot that humans built his lodgings. He lives in what we call a zoo, but it's a temperature-controlled space with wood and hay and other natural things in the habitat," said Tom Chapin, editor of Punxsutawney Spirit, a daily newspaper that covers local news, including "everything Phil does."

All Punxsutawney Phil does during the year (except on Groundhog Day) is eat, sleep and get his picture taken. But this furry mammal hasn't lost his wild instincts, it seems. One year in the past, the groundhog tried to escape. "They caught him right before he tried to run for the hills," Chapin said, adding, "If Groundhog Day comes around and the main man doesn't show up you have problems."

And it seems Phil may have some kind of "longevity genes," as handlers claim the woodchuck is 124 years old. His relatives live up to six years in the wild and just 10 years in captivity. The Phil of today, you might have guessed, is not exactly the same as Phils of yesteryear.

Phil's handlers also claim the animal's forecasts are spot-on every year. "He sees his shadow about 80 percent of the time and the other 20 percent he doesn't," said Bill Deeley, who was one of Phil's handlers, taking care of the groundhog for about 16 years. "He's pretty darn accurate," said Deeley, who is now president of the Groundhog Club's Inner Circle. The president is responsible for translating Phil's proclamation of whether or not he saw his shadow.

Here's the story behind the famous forecaster and why his wild relatives snooze over the winter months:

The legend of the groundhog's forecasting powers arguably dates back to the early days of Christianity in Europe when clear skies on the holiday Candlemas Day, celebrated on Feb. 2, meant an extended winter. The tradition was then brought to Germany, with the German twist being that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas, a hedgehog would cast its shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather. More specifically, the legend states: "For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..."

As some of Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were German, they continued the tradition upon noticing a large population of groundhogs, which resemble the European hedgehog.

Phil and his groundhog relatives are pretty chunky mammals. A typical groundhog, also called a woodchuck or by its scientific name Marmota monax, weighs some 9.5 pounds (4 kg) with a body length reaching about 20 inches (0.5 m), at least those groundhogs living in Pennsylvania. (Punxsutawney Phil, not exactly svelte, weighs about 12 pounds, or 5.4 kg.)

"He's very well fed," Chapin said in a telephone interview. Like other groundhogs, Phil is susceptible to cholesterol problems and so it's best if he doesn't get too big, according to Deeley.

When living in the wild, groundhogs use their relatively short, powerful legs, clawed digits and large teeth to dig underground living quarters. And those habitats can be quite extensive, with as many as five entrances and various tunnels extending some 45 feet (13.7 m), and as deep underground as 5 feet (1.5 m).

During the summer, groundhog dens are usually constructed in open areas, while in the winter, the animals take up residence in dens under stumps and at the edges of rock ledges. When it's time to snooze, groundhogs stay put in a side chamber along the burrow system.

Hibernation generally begins in October and ends in March or April (not Feb. 2). During this deep sleep, groundhogs curl up into tight balls with their heads tucked between their hind legs. Their heartbeats slow from some 100 beats a minute to as few as 15; the body temperature drops from 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees C); and breathing slows. This depressed state allows animals to conserve energy and live off their fat stores during the harsh winter months when food is scarce.

While Phil doesn't go into a deep sleep like his outdoor pals, the groundhog does begin to slow down on eating and activities as the days get shorter. "Our groundhog will eat 12 months out of the year," Deeley told LiveScience. "He's like an eating machine from April until September 15," before he starts to slow down.

Punxsutawney Phil: 6 more weeks of winter

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35194650/ns/weather

Punxsutawney Phil: 6 more weeks of winter
Thousands gather before dawn to witness Pa. groundhog’s forecast
Tues., Feb. 2, 2010

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. - The world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, emerged before chilly revelers in western Pennsylvania on Tuesday to see his shadow, a sign his handlers say means winter will last another six weeks.

Some 12,000 people gathered before dawn to await his weather forecast. They came from as far as Chile and the Netherlands, braving a chilly 18 degrees Fahrenheit to see the more than century-old ritual.

Bill Deeley, president of the Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club — and reputedly the only person in the world who can speak "groundhogese" — declared that Phil had "seen his shadow" as he has about 90 percent of the time.

For groundhog lovers who were unwilling to spend a night in the cold, organizers for the first time sent the text of the prognostication to people's cell phones.

German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.

The Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club annually announces Phil's forecast at dawn on Gobbler's Knob, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The Groundhog Club says that since 1887 Phil and his predecessors have predicted more winter weather by seeing their shadow nearly 100 times, but there are no records for nine years.

Several other Groundhog Day celebrations are held around the United States. A high-profile rival delivered a different prediction on Tuesday, with New York City media reporting that "Staten Island Chuck" did not see his shadow.

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had criticized the event for traumatizing the groundhog and said Phil should be replaced with a robotic rodent.

Organizers dismissed the idea as "ridiculous."

John Martin, 63, a retired engineer, said he drove 350 miles from his home in Sardinia, Ohio, to witness the event for the fifth time in 10 years.

Martin said it was hard to explain to his friends and neighbors why he should drive so far to attend the ceremony in the dark and cold.

"They think I'm crazy," he said.

Some others were drawn by the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray.

Priscilla McMannes, a 40-year-old warehouse worker, drove five hours from her home in Stanton, Va., to attend for the first time.

"We saw it on TV and we watched the movie, and we wanted to see what all the fuss was about," she said.