4Warn Weather – What’s 132 years old, college educated and a known biter? That would be Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog from Pennsylvania.
According to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club (yes it’s a real club), there has only been one Punxsutawney Phil in more than a century. The secret to his longevity? A special groundhog punch that’s administered every summer at the Groundhog Picnic (the recipe is a secret).
One sip gives the furry weather lad another seven years of life. But, while he might be the oldest, he is certainly not the most accurate little weather rodent.
Groundhog Day is on Friday, and many eyes will be on the four-legged creature -- who has an accuracy rate of just 39%. With those numbers, it’s no wonder other groundhogs have joined in on the fun with their own winter predictions.
We even have our very own “special” groundhog right here in Michigan named Woody the Woodchuck. She -- that’s right, she -- will make her 26th prediction in front of a live audience at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 2 at the Howell Nature Center.
And we have another biter!
Buckeye Chuck was declared Ohio’s official Groundhog Day representative in 1979. The furry rodent lives in Marion, Ohio and almost always predicts an early spring.
New York has double the fun with two groundhogs, Pothole Pete and Staten Island Chuck. Formally known as Charles G. Hogg, Chuck lives at the Staten Island Zoo and has a bit of a New York attitude. In 2009 the grumpy little guy bit former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the finger as he reached into his cage to bring him on stage.
Finally, there is the highly regarded, and perhaps wisest of all furry forecasters, General Beauregard Lee from Georgia. He is the only groundhog in the country to have received honorary doctorates from the University of Georgia for “Weather Prognostication” and from Georgia State University for “Southern Groundology.”
Happy (almost) Groundhog Day!