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We’re all longing for Spring. Will Phil help us out?

On Groundhog Day, a bunch of men, wearing suits and top hats, pull a groundhog out of a hole in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. They then read a scroll the groundhog supposedly wrote, that states whether or not it saw its shadow. This determines if winter will last another six weeks, or if spring is coming soon. It’s a bit of an odd tradition, but a similar practice has been taking places for centuries. Following is a transcript of the video.

Groundhog Day Announcer: Our buddy, Punxsutawney Phil!

As the tradition goes, every year on February 2, Phil the groundhog comes out of his hole in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. If he sees his shadow, we’ll supposedly get 6 more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, winter is supposedly over.

Seems bizarre, right? So, how exactly did groundhogs become the go-to animal for predicting the weather?

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