How old is punxsutawney phil 2010

Then again, Phil, weighing in at 20 pounds 9 kilograms versus the usual 13 6 kilograms , is anything but an ordinary groundhog.

Find out why groundhogs and other hibernating animals may suffer dangerous wakeup calls due to global warming. When he's not predicting the weather, Punxsutawney Phil makes his home at the Groundhog Zoo, an annex of the Punxsutawney town library. Also known as woodchucks, groundhogs are rodents of the marmot genus. Native to most of Canada and the eastern U. Seen mainly around fields, streams, and roads, these squirrel cousins feast mainly on grasses and other plants, as well as fruit and tree bark.

While Punxsutawney Phil's proponents maintain that his predictions are percent accurate, the U. In many years when Phil's predicted six more weeks of winter weather, February and March turned out to be warmer than average. But to obsess over the accuracy of Phil's predictions is to miss the point, said Chapin, the Punxsutawney Spirit editor. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals PETA recently sent a letter to the president of the Inner Circle suggesting the council retire Punxsutawney Phil to a sanctuary and replace him with an electronic groundhog.

Chapin, an unabashed Punxsutawney Phil fan—journalistic objectivity be damned—dismissed PETA's letter as a publicity stunt. All rights reserved. It was compromised," he said. Punxsutawney Phil. Not everyone finds the annual event entertaining, though.

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The elixir is made from a secret recipe and provides Phil with the potion that has sustained his longevity and youthful good looks, they said. See photos from Punxsutawney: Phil predicts 6 more weeks of winter on Groundhog Day. Facebook Twitter Email. Tradition has it that if Punxsutawney Phil emerges from his temporary burrow—a simulated tree stump at the rural site of Gobbler's Knob—on February 2 and sees his shadow, winter weather will continue for six more weeks across the United States.

But if Phil doesn't see his shadow, then spring temperatures are just around the corner. See "No Winter by ? Study Offers Grim Forecast for U.

Regardless of the weather prediction, on Groundhog Day, Phil "speaks" to his human caretakers, known as the Inner Circle, in Groundhogese and tells them his forecast. The Inner Circle then translates Phil's words for the world to hear—or so they say. Whatever he says on February 2, "immortal" Punxsutawney Phil—supposedly born no later than the 19th century—will get his message out in some decidedly 21st-century ways, by texting his forecast for the first time to sign up, text "groundhog" to and, of course, updating his Facebook status.

In the early days of Christianity in Europe, clergy would distribute blessed candles to the faithful on February 2 in honor of Candlemas, a holiday celebrating the Virgin Mary's presentation of Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after his birth. Along the way, February 2 also became associated with weather prediction, perhaps due to its proximity to the pagan Celtic festival of Imbolc—also a time of meteorological superstition—which falls on February 1.

Tradition held that the weather on Candlemas was important: clear skies meant an extended winter. Legend has it that the Romans also believed that conditions during the first days of February were good predictors of future weather, but the empire looked to hedgehogs for their forecasts.

These two traditions melded in Germany, and was brought over to the United States by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania. Lacking hedgehogs, the German settlers substituted native groundhogs in the ritual, and Groundhog Day was born. Download a National Geographic groundhog picture as wallpaper. In a group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney map dubbed themselves the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and declared their furry oracle, Punxsutawney Phil, the one and only "official" weather-prognosticating groundhog.

The Punxsutawney ceremony originated around the same time. Beauregard Lee maintain regional fame. See "Groundhogs Disagree on Winter Prognosis" []. According to Punxsutawney folklore, Phil owes his year-plus lifespan to an "elixir of life," served every summer at the annual Groundhog Picnic, of which there are curiously no photographs. Despite the Inner Circle's claims, such longevity would make Punxsutawney Phil a statistical anomaly, to say the least—groundhogs in captivity typically live no longer than about ten years, which suggests Phil's name, passed down like "Lassie," may be the only immortal thing about him.

Then again, Phil, weighing in at 20 pounds 9 kilograms versus the usual 13 6 kilograms , is anything but ordinary. Find out why Punxsutawney Phil and other hibernating animals may suffer dangerous wakeup calls due to global warming.