Groundhog day

[John A]

Sounds like he failed to see his shadow, that means an early spring. A couple days ago it was -30 F and now it's raining. 

[yogidozer]

Phil has predicted 103 forecasts for winter and just 17 for an early spring. ... But a Middlebury College team found that a long-term analysis of temperature high/low predictions were 70% accurate, although when the groundhog predicted early spring it was usually wrong.....
So, do we trust a groundhog, or a college kid? 

[JJ]

Phil has predicted 103 forecasts for winter and just 17 for an early spring. ... But a Middlebury College team found that a long-term analysis of temperature high/low predictions were 70% accurate, although when the groundhog predicted early spring it was usually wrong.....
So, do we trust a groundhog, or a college kid? 

"Dooooohhh!!" 

[Guzzistajohn]

[lucian]

My younger brothers birthday,  Punxsutawney Paul.   The easiest birthday out of seven of us to remember every year. Glad to here we're going to get off easy this spring.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  I hope puxatawny bit the stupid official that woke him up and dragged him out from his pleasant sleep just to look for his shadow.

[xackley]

for us it is bill murray day, we watch "groundhog day", year after year, and I still enjoy it.
Don

[JJ]

Today's "TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY" - -

Back in upstate NY, (Mid-Hudson Valley), where I grew up, the dairy farmer's nickname for the woodchuck's was the "Whistle Pig"....     

Does anyone want to guess why a woodchuck was called this? 

[yogidozer]

Today's "TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY" - -

Back in upstate NY, (Mid-Hudson Valley), where I grew up, the dairy farmer's nickname for the woodchuck's was the "Whistle Pig"....     

Does anyone want to guess why a woodchuck was called this? 

The noise they make when threatened.
A rabbit can sometimes sound like a baby crying. Imagine hearing that when hiking out at nightfall, not knowing what it is.
You can tell what kind of trees are around you by the sound they make when the wind blows.
Never understood why some wear earphones with music while hiking, kayaking, or fishing.
So many things to hear in the outdoors.

[JJ]

The noise they make when threatened.
A rabbit can sometimes sound like a baby crying. Imagine hearing that when hiking out at nightfall, not knowing what it is.
You can tell what kind of trees are around you by the sound they make when the wind blows.
Never understood why some wear earphones with music while hiking, kayaking, or fishing.
So many things to hear in the outdoors.

Yes, that's one explanation...the second one was when they saw you in the fields, and were threatened...they quickly ran to their holes nearby.  They never ventured far from their escape hatches. 

Then, all you had to do was squat within 15-25 yards from their hole...be patient...and "whistle loudly"...they would then stand up and stick their head out of their hole...and then you would have them. 

Because of the deep holes and burrows they dug, the dairy cows would sometimes break their legs and have to be put down.  Because of this, dairy farmers up my way hated them, and paid us kids $10-$15 per woodchuck carcass. 

I lived right behind a huge dairy farm, and back in the day I used a single-shot, bolt-action, Montgomery Ward .410 shotgun with a rifled slug to take care of business.  NOTE:  I gave up that practice after age 16, when I got into motorcycles and cars...