mereilin

Today I learned that the venerable rodent of lore, Punxsutawney Phil, is forcibly pulled from his hibernation on February second by a man in a top hat. So much for my childhood notions of the little guy tottering up for a peek at the weather conditions before deciding whether it's really time to wake up.

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. - Brace yourself for more wintry weather. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Saturday, leading the groundhog to forecast six more weeks of winter.

The rodent was pulled from his stump [emphasis added] by members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, top-hat- and tuxedo-wearing businessmen who carry out the tradition.

Each Feb. 2, thousands of people descend on Punxsutawney, a town of about 6,100 people some 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, to celebrate what had essentially been a German superstition.

The tradition is that if a hibernating animal sees a shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.

That was the forecast from Gen. Beauregard Lee, Punxsutawney Phil's counterpart in Lilburn, Ga. Beau did not see his shadow Saturday morning at the Yellow River Game Ranch.

It was the third year in a row the two groundhogs' predictions differed.

The article doesn't mention whether the General was pulled from his stump, but apparently everyone (even the poor groundhog) knows that spring comes earlier to our Southern states.

(At least this year Georgia actually had winter.