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There will be six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil predicted as he emerged from his burrow Wednesday morning to perform his Groundhog Day duties. According to folklore, there will be six more weeks of winter if Phil SEES his shadow (which I always though was backwards… you’d think on a nice day that would mean spring is coming (???); if he doesn’t because it’s cloudy, spring comes early. Here are 5 more random facts:
1. I know this is going to come as a shock, but Punxsutawney Phil's weather predictions aren't 100% accurate. Weather is different everywhere, but even in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, Phil has only been correct 39% of the time.
2. The Pennsylvania Lottery's mascot is a groundhog named Gus, referred to in commercials as "the second-most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania", behind Phil.
3. Prior to 1993, the Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney attracted crowds of approximately 2,000. The movie "Groundhog Day" made it much more popular, and annual crowds are now between 10,000 and 20,000 . . . with the exception of last year, when it was closed off due to the pandemic. (It's also live-streamed.)
4. In the movie, no one knows how long Bill Murray's character Phil was stuck in the same day. Director Harold Ramis said it was probably "30 to 40 years" . . . but in the original script, he was looping for 10,000 years.
5. The first Groundhog Day celebration in 1887 involved EATING the groundhog. Apparently, they taste like a cross between pork and chicken.
(StormFax / PA Lottery / Washington Post / Mental Floss / Time) Image © 2022 Getty Images