Winter still on, says oracular groundhog

THE WORLD’S furriest weather forecaster says six more weeks of winter are in store for those living in North America.

In an annual tradition in the US state of Pennsylvania, a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil ( right) emerged from winter hibernation in his burrow to test the weather.

According to his handlers at the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, established in 1887, the rodent saw his shadow on Feb 2 and scurried back inside, auguring six more weeks of winter.

No shadow, and it would have been an early spring.

A number of towns in the United States and Canada celebrate Groundhog Day but Punxsutawney Phil, named for his hometown in Pennsylvania, is the most celebrated of the rodent weather prognosticators.

Men from the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club inner circle, a prestigious group made up of the who’s who in Punxsutawney, take care of Phil all year and plan the big event.

At the Groundhog Day celebration, Phil’s official handler, a member of this tuxedo-andtop-hat-wearing group, pulls the oversized squirrel from his stump and lifts him above the packed crowd.

After that, Phil ‘tells‘ the group’s president his prediction, it is relayed to the crowd, to either their joy or dismay.

Incidentally, Groundhog Day is also the title of the 1993 cult classic movie featuring Bill Murray, in which he wakes up and experiences the same day again and again. – Agencies