Punxsutawney Phil’s pups get their names
Community input helps select Sunny and Shadow
Punxsutawney Phil and his groundhog wife, Phyllis, celebrated Mother’s Day in a very special way this year.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club first announced on social media in March that the famous groundhog pair had welcomed two surprise pups into the world, a month after Punxsutawney Phil predicted that spring would come early.
After receiving hundreds of name suggestions and community input, the club announced the names of Phil and Phyllis’ pups in a special Mother’s Day celebration on Sunday.
The twins, a girl and a boy, have been named Sunny and Shadow, respectively.
In a post on social media, vice president Dan McGinley read a scroll “provided” to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club by Punxsutawney Phil. The scroll reads:
“Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye. Now, on this 12th of May in the town of Punxsy Phil, the news is not about the weather, spring air or winter’s chill. No, today the first family of groundhogs has grown. Punxsutawney Phil and wife, Phyllis, have two kits of their own. Born to royalty: a boy and a girl. Names have been chosen to share with the world. Welcome with us as we say hello to little girl Sunny and a boy Shadow with pride and joy as the kits play from Punxsutawney, happy Mother’s Day.”
Did Phil see his shadow this year?
Phil did not see his shadow on Feb. 2 at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, part of the annual Groundhog Day tradition celebrated in the U.S. and Canada. That means, according to the legend, Phil was predicting an early spring.
It was the first time since 2020 that Phil predicted an early spring, and the 21st time since records were kept.
If you look at the data, Punxsutawney Phil has a record of seeing his shadow more often than not. Before 2024, the groundhog had seen his shadow 107 times and not seen his shadow 20 times, according to the York Daily Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. There were a few years in the late 1800s where there was no record of his forecast, and 1943 was the only year he did not make an appearance.