In honor of Groundhog Day 2023, The Optimist Daily shares some background knowledge on this centuries-old American tradition. 

The first Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day was commemorated for the first time on February 2, 1887, at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, thanks to a “rodent meteorologist”. Following tradition, if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow, it is afraid and returns to its burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow implies an early spring.

Groundhog Day derives from the old Christian ritual of Candlemas, when clerics would bless and distribute winter candles. The candles symbolized how long and cold winter would be. 

Germans improved on this idea by using an animal, the hedgehog, to anticipate the weather. German settlers in Pennsylvania carried on the custom, however, they shifted focus from hedgehogs to groundhogs, which were plentiful in the Keystone State.

What are groundhogs anyway?

Marmota monax is the scientific name for groundhogs, which are also often called woodchucks. These little creatures weigh 12 to 15 pounds and live for six to eight years. They consume vegetables and fruits, whistle when scared or searching for a mate (thus the nickname “whistle pigs”), and can climb trees and swim.

They hibernate in the late fall, when their body temperatures drop dramatically, their heartbeats reduce from 80 to five beats per minute, and they can lose up to 30 percent of their body fat. Male groundhogs emerge from their burrows in February to look for a mate (not to forecast the weather) before returning underground. In March, they emerge from hibernation for good.

In 1887, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, a group of Punxsutawney groundhog hunters, declared that Phil, the Punxsutawney groundhog, was America’s only authentic weather-forecasting groundhog. The line of groundhogs now known as Phil may be the most renowned in the United States. That said, several cities across North America now have their own weather-predicting rodents, including Birmingham Bill, Staten Island Chuck, and Shubenacadie Sam in Canada.

Groundhog Day today at Gobbler’s Knob

The traditional festivities at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney are now presided over by The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, which organizes a three-day festival with entertainment and activities, and the Inner Circle, a group of local dignitaries. Its members wear top hats and conduct official business in Pennsylvania Dutch. (In “Groundhogese,” they are said to communicate with the groundhog.)

Tens of thousands attend Groundhog Day activities in Punxsutawney, a borough of 6,000 inhabitants, every February 2.