They’ve been right all along.
Fatten up on tender green grass through the spring. Rest in a cool underground spot through the heat of summer afternoons.
Hang out in shady fencerows. Feast on nature’s tasty bounty, like late June raspberries and October’s apple tree drops. Sample goodies from local gardens.
And, take a long, long nap through the snow, ice, sleet, biting winds and bitter cold of January.
The groundhogs have been right all along.
Those pudgy banes of farm fields and burrowers under outbuilding foundations have been blessed with instincts that send them into a deep, deep sleep in a cozy burrow while snow squalls and winds whip across the countryside.
Groundhogs, or woodchucks if you prefer, just curl up into tight balls of fat furriness. They don’t worry about frozen pipes or shoveling out walks and driveways or starting cold-cranky vehicles or falling on glacier-hard patches of packed ice.
A long winter’s nap eliminates dealing with any of those things.
Indeed, why would one want to poke sleepy eyes and a furry nose out of a warm and snug burrow to see if the sun is shining as the day breaks.
That might make sense in early April. It seems more like nonsense on the second day of February.
According to various sources I scanned on the internet (most of which generally agree), Feb. 2 is a “cross-quarter” day; halfway through the season spanning from the starts of the winter and spring solstices.
What has evolved over the years into a raucous multi-day party in west-central Pennsylvania, has roots in beliefs of the ancient Celtic people who observed “Imbolc,” a midway point for their farmers to track the planting season.
That, incidentally, coincided with the European religious observation of Candlemas, which commemorated the day of Jesus’ presentation at the temple in Jerusalem.
A sunny Candlemas was believed to bring 40 more days of winter and the day sometimes included the giving out of candles for more light.
German traditions expanded that to include small animals, like badgers and hedgehogs, seeing their shadows on sunny Candlemas days and retreating into hibernation.
With an absence of local badgers and hedgehogs across our commonwealth, German immigrants into Pennsylvania instead substituted the abundant and available native groundhog.
In 1887, the editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper, one Clymer Freas, (reportedly also a groundhog hunter) drummed up community support for holding the first Groundhog Day holiday.
We can only wonder how many fellow celebrants gathered with him out at Gobbler’s Knob — for certain far fewer of them than the thousands who show up there now each Feb. 2.
Most any excuse for a party during this gray, gloomy, cold time of year was apparently as welcomed then as it is now.
An internationally known and celebrated furry, four-footed celebrity, the official Groundhog Day mascot, Punxsutawney Phil, now reportedly has a family, a mate and babies. He even made an appearance, I believe, at the most recent Farm Show a few weeks ago.
Farmer and gardeners, of course, are far less fond of groundhogs, battling them with anything from burrow bombs to digging their mid-field homes up with excavators.
Years ago, bubble gum was reported to “plug up” the digestive systems of the furry rodents and cause their demise after they ingested the tasty treat.
While human celebrators may be out partying at the cold crack of dawn, most groundhogs are likely to just observe the holiday by sleeping in — which most of us probably consider isn’t a bad idea at all.
So while farmers and gardeners aren’t anxious for groundhogs to reemerge from sleeping in, celebrations — not just domestically but at scattered places around the world — will anxiously await a shadow appearance.
Regardless of the weather or how anyone feels about the furry munchers, they will ultimately do their own thing, in their own time, living their own lives ... and ultimately producing more groundhogs.
One thing for sure, whether you have affection for them or are more likely to take aim at one, groundhogs aren’t going on the endangered animal list any time soon.
