At the first of this week, we went through one of our annual rituals of looking to a groundhog to prognosticate the weather, of course I am talking about Punxsutawney Phil. The way this plays out is that if Phil sees his shadow, we have 6 more weeks of winter. Apparently, Phil is accurate 39% of the time which is a slightly less accurate prediction than that of flipping a coin. Not great odds for Phil’s predictions, but it’s just a silly tradition that a lot of people seem to enjoy…especially the town that hosts these annual events I am guessing.

We likely saw Phil on television, so we’ve seen a groundhog, but do we have them in Oklahoma? We do and they are primarily located in Eastern Oklahoma but have been seen in central Oklahoma as well.

Did you know that a groundhog is known by other names such as a whistle pig or a woodchuck? Knowing that might just help you win a trivia game someday, but what is a groundhog?

For those who have seen Punxsutawney Phil on television, it’s easy to see that groundhogs are a pretty sizable rodent. Groundhogs are vegetarian and as such, spend most of their time searching for food. Their mating season is in the spring with females typically giving birth to 4 or 5 baby groundhogs.

Most adult groundhogs weigh between 6 and 10 pounds and grow to a length of between 16 and 20 inches. They have strong legs and curved claws since they are diggers.

Interestingly, these burrows can sometimes be 30 feet in length containing several chambers with one of those chambers serving as a place to relieve themselves.

So, how did these plus-size rodents end up with the job of predicting weather? Here’s the deal.

February 2^nd has long been associated with a Christian tradition called Candlemas. Candlemas is the official end of the Christmas/Epiphany season. Historically it was a time for Christians to take their candles to the church to be blessed and possibly enjoy pancakes. At this point there were no animals as part of the ceremony.

However, German folklore tells us that at some point an animal was introduced into the ceremony and used to predict the weather. The animals they used were hedgehogs, but when Germans migrated to this part of the world back in the day, there were no native hedgehogs, so the groundhog became the official weather expert at the ceremonies. Apparently, the tradition of using hedgehogs to predict the arrival of spring dates back to the Romans but that is another story.

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.

At the first of this week, we went through one of our annual rituals of looking to a groundhog to prognosticate the weather, of course I am talking about Punxsutawney Phil. The way this plays out is that if Phil sees his shadow, we have 6 more weeks of winter. Apparently, Phil is accurate 39% of the time which is a slightly less accurate prediction than that of flipping a coin. Not great odds for Phil’s predictions, but it’s just a silly tradition that a lot of people seem to enjoy…especially the town that hosts these annual events I am guessing.

We likely saw Phil on television, so we’ve seen a groundhog, but do we have them in Oklahoma? We do and they are primarily located in Eastern Oklahoma but have been seen in central Oklahoma as well.

Did you know that a groundhog is known by other names such as a whistle pig or a woodchuck? Knowing that might just help you win a trivia game someday, but what is a groundhog?

For those who have seen Punxsutawney Phil on television, it’s easy to see that groundhogs are a pretty sizable rodent. Groundhogs are vegetarian and as such, spend most of their time searching for food. Their mating season is in the spring with females typically giving birth to 4 or 5 baby groundhogs.

Most adult groundhogs weigh between 6 and 10 pounds and grow to a length of between 16 and 20 inches. They have strong legs and curved claws since they are diggers.

Interestingly, these burrows can sometimes be 30 feet in length containing several chambers with one of those chambers serving as a place to relieve themselves.

So, how did these plus-size rodents end up with the job of predicting weather? Here’s the deal.

February 2^nd has long been associated with a Christian tradition called Candlemas. Candlemas is the official end of the Christmas/Epiphany season. Historically it was a time for Christians to take their candles to the church to be blessed and possibly enjoy pancakes. At this point there were no animals as part of the ceremony.

However, German folklore tells us that at some point an animal was introduced into the ceremony and used to predict the weather. The animals they used were hedgehogs, but when Germans migrated to this part of the world back in the day, there were no native hedgehogs, so the groundhog became the official weather expert at the ceremonies. Apparently, the tradition of using hedgehogs to predict the arrival of spring dates back to the Romans but that is another story.

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: Pixabay