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AMERICAN METEOROLOGISTS WERE in the hot seat last week for erroneously forecasting blizzards that shut down New York, but on Monday, it was groundhogs that clashed over the onset of spring.
It is one of the more bizarre folklore traditions still practised in parts of contemporary America: groundhogs that emerge from their burrows on February 2 indicate whether spring will come early.
Those who see their shadows spell six more weeks of winter.
And just like weather forecasters, furry marmots in the northeast couldn’t agree which way the wind’s blowing.
In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where the tradition has taken place since 1887, Phil the groundhog apparently saw his shadow and retreated back to his burrow, spelling six more weeks of winter.
“Forecasts abound on the Internet, but, I, Punxsutawney Phil am still your best bet,” said Inner Circle of Punxsutawney president Bill Deeley, giving credit to the animal.
In Manchester, Connecticut, a second groundhog, Chuckles, also saw his shadow, corroborating Punxsutawney Phil’s forecast.
But New York, where Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped a groundhog at last year’s ceremony — which may or may not have contributed to the animal’s death two weeks later — begged to differ.
The city’s official groundhog Chuck predicted an early bloom, keeping his distance from the mayor.
“Chuck says early spring! Chuck, I want to thank you for this good news,” de Blasio said during a ceremony at Staten Island Zoo.
A medical exam of the animal dropped by de Blasio last year revealed it died of internal injuries, but zoo officials said it was unclear if they were caused by the fall from de Blasio’s arms. Zoo officials didn’t make the death public for months.
The accident became a source of teasing for the mayor, and de Blasio himself suggested Monday that “teams of animal behavior experts and scientists have consulted from all over the country” to keep the groundhog safe.
In Wisconsin, the mayor of Sun Prairie might not be getting too close to a groundhog again.
During a celebration Monday, the handler of Jimmy the groundhog held the animal next the face of Mayor Jonathan Freund, and Jimmy promptly bit down on the mayor’s left ear.
At the main ceremony in Pennsylvania, the rain kept some revelers away, with state police estimating the crowd at around 11,000, slightly smaller than in recent years when upward of 15,000 attended.
Despite the German legend, Phil’s handlers don’t wait to see if he sees his shadow — as he likely would not have on such an overcast day. Instead, the Inner Circle decide on the forecast ahead of time and announce it on Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill in the town for which the groundhog is named, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Records going back to 1887 show Phil has now predicted more winter 102 times while forecasting an early spring just 17 times. There are no records for the remaining years.
- © AFP 2015, additional reporting by Associated Press
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A sad fact is they will still vote Conservative, like the past few elections, not because the Tory party is of any use, it’s just no creditable opposition exists, Labour cant find its feet and Starmer is weak and goes with what’s popular rather than what’s needed, voters fear this, Labour will do well but not brilliant, sad but true.
@Valentine Kane: Compared to Johnson, Starmer looks like Hercules! Boris Johnson has never told the truth. It just goes to show you how much of a hold the British media have on the people that Boris Johnson got into power in the first place. He had more skeletons in his closet than Jeffery Dahmer.
@Mike Ruddy: correct – he’s realised what Corbyn was up against in the British media. And Starmer is much more palatable to the media there than Corbyn ever was.
“integrity issue”!!! Are they for real!?
They voted him in as leader. What part of his long and very public history didn’t clearly show him as a inveterate liar and con artist. Was being fired from 2 separate jobs not enough? How about trying to get a journalist assaulted? None of that was a clue?
Quite frankly, it’s galling that these people blame him. He’s clearly shown his true colours for decades. Have they never read the Frog and the scorpion? It’s in his nature!
No not the, Greens gaining seats. dig deeper into your pockets for that Lot.
Chucking Borris out will regain 50% of their vote. He’s toxic now.
@Kevin Conway: That was the plan all along, the Conservatives knew they were going to have a bad election so left Boris in place even as more and more scandels broke. That way they can now get rid of him, spinning it as if they are cleaning up the party, and install a new leader with a clean slate. No point in getting a new leader before the election and having a disaster, it would make the new leader seem weak.
have your say