Why A Groundhog To Predict The Weather?
February 2nd is Ground Hog Day. It's a day when we ditch all the sophisticated weather satellites and computer models and go rodent for our long range weather forecasts.
Sure, it's just folklore, but did you ever wonder why the groundhog was chosen to be the official weather forecast from the animal world?
The choice of the groundhog has to do with the life habits of that particular creature. It's the kind of animal that literally "chills out" when the weather is cold but tends to become more active when the spring mating season arrives.
February 2nd is the midpoint between winter in spring. It is also the 40th day of the Christmas-Epiphany season. This is known as Candlemas day. It is also an approximate day when the groundhog might make an early appearance.
Why would he poke his nose and other body parts out of his nice warm burrow? Let's be honest, the groundhog is just like a guy who arrives early in the evening at a bar. He is hoping to have the first chance with the ladies. So is our buddy the groundhog.
He is hoping to get a jump start on the spring mating season. It's like spring break with rats. Let's face it doing the Netflix and chill by yourself can become rather monotonous for December and January.
Since people in days of old did not have the internet they would often roam the woods looking for food and entertainment. I would imagine groundhog observing would have the same entertainment quality as watching an episode of The View. You'll watch, but you're not really sure why you did and afterward you feel as if you just lost an hour of your life.
That's why we have Groundhog Day. A little rodent gets in the mood to mate. If the weather is sunny he figures the ladies are out and about as well. If the weather is cloudy he figures what the heck I am going back to the house to watch the Weather Channel.
By the way, the whistle pig, or groundhog is only accurate about 39% of the time. I wouldn't start planning any beach trips based on what this four-legged Jim Cantore with hair predicts.