A few days ago, there was a lot of news about our annual ritual where they bring out a groundhog to see if the groundhog sees its shadow. As tradition has it, seeing or not seeing its shadow is an indicator of whether we will have an early spring or not. This doesn’t seem like a great way to predict the weather and based on quick internet search, it doesn’t seem like a very accurate way either since Punxsutawney Phil is apparently only correct 39% of the time. This is slightly less accurate that flipping a coin, but who are we to rain on the groundhog parade.

But how many of us have actually seen a groundhog? Not that many I am guessing. Did you know that a groundhog is also known as a woodchuck or whistle pig? Whistle pig is a new one but most of us are probably familiar with the tongue twister about a woodchuck, chucking wood. There are some interesting topics associated with this animal, but did you know we have groundhogs in Oklahoma? We do, and they are primarily located in Eastern Oklahoma, but have been sighted in Pawnee, Payne, Lincoln, Logan, Okfuskee, Pittsburg, and Oklahoma counties as well.

If you have seen Punxsutawney Phil on tv, you know groundhogs are sizable rodents that are mainly brown in color. Groundhogs are vegetarians who spend their days looking for food. Spring is mating season and adult females can give birth to 4 or 5 baby groundhogs.

Adult groundhogs can weigh between 6 and 10 pounds and grow to be 16 to 20 inches in length with strong legs and curved claws. Those curved claws and strong legs are great for digging.

They dig to construct their burrows which can reach 30 feet in length. These burrows typically have several chambers within them. One is used as a place to relieve themselves which helps keep their living chambers clean, helping to minimize disease. Here in Oklahoma, they hibernate for four to six months during the winter.

But then the question comes up, how in the world did these extra-large rodents get connected with a day in which they can predict the weather? Well, here’s what we know.

February 2^nd is associated with a Christian tradition called Candlemas. Without going into the history of this day, suffice it to say that February 2^nd became the day Christians would take their candles to the church to have them blessed. Originally, no animals were involved with this ceremony.

However, according to German folklore, at some point an animal was introduced to this ceremony with its accompanying weather prediction. If the animal saw its shadow, there would be 6 more weeks of winter.

The animal used in these ceremonies was a hedgehog. However, when Germans migrated to this part of the world, there were no hedgehogs to be found and so the groundhog became the official weather prognosticator. And that’s how this curious tradition got started.

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org. Photo: Brett Marshall, Sault College, Bugwood.org