This morning in a small town in Pennsylvania, the famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil will be coaxed from his hole to predict the weather.
But in Athens, most of the area's groundhogs will be too busy getting ready for spring to look for their shadows.
Groundhog Day, which was founded in 1887 in the United States, stems from a German belief that if the sun came out on Candlemas Day - Feb. 2 - animals would cast a shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter, according to www.groundhog.org.
Germans originally used hedgehogs, but when the Germans immigrated to America, they began using groundhogs instead. Today thousands of people will travel to see Punxsutawney Phil.
According to legend, if the groundhog sees his shadow, winter continues for six more weeks. If he doesn't, spring is on its way.
For many Ohio University students, Groundhog Day is something they celebrated in elementary school but not a holiday they participate in today.
It's kind of a pointless holiday
said Madison Schoephoerster, a freshman who is undecided about her major. But you kind of follow it if it goes along with what you want to hear.
Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks and whistle pigs, spend 60 percent of their lives underground in their burrows, but they can be seen above ground feeding on grasses and clover, said Gerald Svendsen, a professor of biological sciences who did his thesis dissertation on the yellow-bellied marmot, a close relative to the groundhog.
Groundhogs actually begin hibernating in October and go into torpor - a state of inactivity or sluggishness - that can last from two to 10 days. In February, they get ready for mating season, Svendsen said.
The groundhog would probably rather see a member of the opposite sex than his shadow he said
Groundhogs have always been common in Ohio, but humans have helped increase their numbers by cutting down forests and opening up the fields where they like to live, Svendsen said.
Although they have some celebrity in Punxsutawney, groundhogs can cause a lot of problems, getting into gardens and burrowing under building foundations and causing them to collapse, Svendsen said.
Sam Hanson, environmental health coordinator with the Department of Environmental Health and Safety, said he has received complaints about groundhogs at six different campus locations including The Ridges, the facilities management building and the golf course.
When he gets a complaint, Hanson tries to catch the groundhog and removes it from the gene pool. However, he only has captured four in the last 14 years. Compared to other animals on campus - like bats - groundhogs aren't that much of a problem, Hanson said.
Christina Stabile, a first-year graduate student studying curriculum instruction, has two groundhogs living under the porch of her house on Mound Street. Stabile said she thinks the legend behind Groundhog Day is cute but that there probably isn't much logic behind it.
It's just a fun little folk tale she said. (Officials) probably look at the forecast before they make their prediction.
as147005@ohiou.edu
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Culture
Anna Sudar
