Mom Moments

Monday, February 2, is Groundhog Day.  It is said that if the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of bad weather, and if he doesn’t see his shadow, that spring will be here soon.

Did you know a groundhog is the same animal as a woodchuck and that there are LOTS of woodchucks in Monroe County?  There is even a Woodchuck Creek in Monroe County.  But somehow, sadly, we have no official groundhog to forecast the weather for us.  : (

The most famous groundhog by far is Puxsatawny Phil.  But there are many others too. 

• Punxsutawney Phil found in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
• Jimmy the Groundhog of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
• Wiarton Willie found in Wiarton, Ontario, Canada
• Staten Island Chuck found in New York City, New York
• General Beauregard Lee, PhD found in Atlanta, Georgia
• Dunkirk Dave in Dunkirk, New York
• Malverne Mel and Malverne Melissa found in Malverne, New York
• Brandon Bob of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
• Balzac Billy of Balzac, Alberta, Canada
• Shubenacadie Sam of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Gary the Groundhog of Kleinburg, Ontario, Canada
• Spanish Joe of Spanish, Ontario, Canada
• Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh, North Carolina
• Pardon Me Pete of Tampa, Florida
• Octoraro Orphie of Quarryville, Pennsylvania
• Holtsville Hal of Holtsville, New York
• Buckeye Chuck of Marion, Ohio

Woody the Woodchuck in Howell, Michigan will make his predication at 8:15am, you can see this Monday on mlive . 

Link Update: Woody did see her shadow (apparently Woody is a girl!).  Six more weeks of winter.

And you can find these things online too:

• Send a free e-card from 123greetings
• Free groundhog printables and crafts from about.com
• Cute cupcake idea from familyfun.com