Community Corner

Waiting with (Frosty) Bated Breath for Groundhog Day

With the recent cold snap, the prospect of "Essex Ed" predicting six more weeks of winter on Feb. 2 is especially daunting.

 

Groundhog Day is on Saturday, Feb. 2 this year, and the recent Arctic temperatures are giving the day a bit more resonance than usual.

Last year, groundhog Essex Ed predicted an early spring at the annual Groundhog Day ceremony at Turtle Back Zoo. (Ed was actually the tie-breaker vote between Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil who predicted six more weeks of winter and Staten Island's Chuck who called for an early spring.)

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Check out the video from last year's event, attached to this article.

According to the myth, if a groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter; if he does not, spring is around the corner.

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Ed's track record is pretty solid: he's predicted correctly nine out of the past 10 years.

Last year, Dr. Jeremy Goodman, zoo director at Turtle Back Zoo said, "He's not just a regular groundhog, he's a very special groundhog."

Groundhog Day actually originated in the Roman times according to Tamara Myhal, animal keeper at the zoo. She said a hedgehog was used to predict the weather but when settlers arrived in America, they began using groundhogs because there were no wild hedgehogs.


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