Originally Posted by MargeCat
Ok, being a Pennsylvania native...never mind. I just want to know how the heck they know if a groundhog sees his shadow or not? Hello, people--he's a groundhog!
Maybe I'll let Phil pick my lottery numbers, too.
Or...Punxy Phil, the Prognosticating Gypsy Fortune-teller Groundhog! Dress him up, you know, big hoop earrings, spotted kerchief, give him a crystal ball...make the little $$%^& earn his keep!
I'm a native Pennsylvanian, too, and I have to ask this: Have either of you actually ever seen a groundhog "in the wild"? I know I never did,Originally Posted by Graciecat
Well as a Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania native I'll fill you in.
The legend goes that he "Talks" to his handler in Groundhogese.
They have two scrolls prepared and from what Phil "Tells" them they know which scroll to pick.
It might be silly and living here all of my life I'll be the first to admit that...but it's also a pain in the bum for those of us who live here.
Before the movie "Groundhog Day" came out, they got a crowd at Gobblers Knob of maybe 1,000 on a good day.
Since that movie the crowds have been upwards of 30,000 some years....and never under 10,000.
The year the movie came out, Bill Murray came here for Groundhog Day and I had the pleasure of meeting him...a really nice, down to earth guy...but the crowd that year was something over 50,000.
That's a lot of extra people for a town of only 6,000 residents!
TV and radio stations from all over the world come here to cover it.
We were watching some of the coverage last night on TV and they talked to a Man from Germany and couple from Australia and a girl from Iceland.
I wouldn't go to Iceland to see a Groundhog, I can't imagine why she came here
Anyway, no matter how much of a pain it is for all of us who live here at least it puts us on the map for one day...and no matter where I go when people ask me where I'm from I say Western PA the first thing out of their mouths is "The Steelers, do you live near Pittsburgh?"
I always say that I live in a small town about 80 miles from there and the name of the town is Punxsutawney...then they say "Oh, the Groundhog"
Then they ask about a million questions
