Happy Groundhog Day!

I have been studying groundhogs/Groundhog Day on the off-chance that a category may be devoted to them at Trivia this week. In reverence of Groundhog Day, allow me to educate you on a few of the more interesting trivial bits of knowledge I have come across.

• All groundhogs have 22 teeth.

• German settlers brought "Groundhog Day" to Pennsylvania, replacing the hedgehog that they used with the more common American groundhog.

• Their lifespan is only 2-3 years

• Groundhogs can swim & climb trees!

• The group charged with keeping Groundhog Day a tradition are called the Inner Circle.

• Groundhogs give a high pitched whistle when alarmed to warn their fellow groundhogs.

• Groundhog Day is halfway between winter solstice & spring equinox.

• Groundhogs are excellent diggers and can move 700 pounds/35 cubic feet of dirt when making a burrow for themselves. They include 2-5 entrances to their burrow so they can get out quickly if someone gets in.

• Groundhogs weigh 5-9 pounds and are between 17 & 26 inches long. (I don't think the one in the picture I chose fits within these norms)

• All the other days of the year, Punxsutawney Phil lives in a climate-controlled home at the Punxsutawney Library. He is taken to Gobbler's Knob and placed in a heated burrow under a simulated tree stump on stage before being pulled out at 7:25 am on Groundhog Day to make his prediction.

• Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter this morning. :( check it out here