Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind

February 2 is officially Groundhog Day in America and like most every year, the furry little forecaster, Punxsutawney Phil, popped out of his burrow only to see his shadow and scurry back inside, indicating 6 more weeks of winter. While this mostly frivolous frost forewarning isn’t exactly scientific, there are many old tales of animals predicting future weather patterns.

For instance, the English believe that when a woodpecker laughs, rain is on the way. Frost is also coming when cats sit with their back to the fire. Even the trees supposedly know what’s in store for them, as it is believed that the frost is done when mulberry trees put out shoots. In Canada and New England, it is said that woolly caterpillars will have a wider brown section on their backs if the coming winter will be more mild. While these may seem funny, animals have been used to predict the weather as far back as pagan times.

Groundhog Day itself first began as part of the Christian Candlemas, a holiday celebrated on February 2 in recognition of Jesus being taken into a temple in Jerusalem after he was born. Eventually, a weather forecasting rhyme was born out of this holiday. It went, “If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, winter will have another bite. If Candlemas Day brings clouds and rain, winter is gone and will not come again.” When German settlers came to Pennsylvania, they brought groundhogs into the mix to blend the Candlemas rhyme with the Celtic holiday of Imbolic. During Imbolic, people would watch for animals that would normally burrow and hibernate to emerge as a gauge of weather to come.

So now, if February 2 is clear and bright, the groundhog will see his shadow and go back into his hole, telling us there’s more winter to come. If the day is cloudy, he’ll come out and winter will be gone soon. While that’s all well and good, all of the media coverage of poor Punxsutawney almost guarantees that even if it is a cloudy day, the camera lights will ensure that we’ll have more winter anyway as the little frightened groundhog shies away.

To read the original article, please go to http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0202/Groundhog-Day-Top-five-animal-forecasters