Ah I HATE that Varmint!
Well the damn varmint saw his shadow this morning at 7:25 AM EST. Can't figure out how he saw his shadow when there was a blizzard in Punxsutawney, PA. Is he blind?
Some information about the Groundhog Day tradition:
Groundhog Day ( Pennsylvania German : Grund'sau dåk , Grundsaudaag , Grundsow Dawg , Murmeltiertag ; Nova Scotia : Daks Day ) [1] is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks; but if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.
While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather. [2]
The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger (German: Dachs ) is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on the Christian festival of Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter.
The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania , centering on a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil , has become the most frequently attended ceremony. Grundsow Lodges in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the southeastern part of the state observe the occasion as well. Other cities in the United States and Canada also have adopted the event. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day
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I grew up about 30-40 miles south of Punxsutawney but never made the trip to Gobbler's Knob for the party. People used to go up there the night before, drink beer all night and then either be super drunk or passed out when the ground hog came out. They stopped allowing alcohol after some incidences where people couldn't hold contain themselves.
Here's the fellow that inspired this bit of prose:
we were surrounded by prairie dogs on the ranch when I was younger. I've literally killed hundreds of them without any remorse.
Ohhh. You are going to 'get it' when you end up on the plains 'afterlife.'
those varmints wreak havoc in the horse and cattle pastures. they all must die.
Hmm. That is a really good point to make known. What I want to know is, why couldn't you teach the cows to "patty" the openings? Or, why not "poo" the holes - yourself?!
Ever been around a cow? Dumbest animal on the farm. Horses break their legs in prairie dog holes so I understand why ranchers don't like them
We have many, many, cows standing on the grazing hills (high up even on a slant!). I always thought that was something too! Cows, 'pound for pound' don't have fear of heights!
Because they're stupid!
HA!
And they fart their way to greenhouse gas record contribution.
and can get ornery.
after my divorce , i downsized from 50 acres to just under 2 acres 300 miles apart, and usually will raise 1 beef and a hog every 2 years that keeps me fed and it gets them to just the right size ., for the the last 3 months they are fed beer soaked grain ( they get more beer than i do then , waygu beef?") restricted movement in pen size , very fattening diet , and they get more ornery than me when drinking.
i usually soak their grain with a case and a half of cheap beer( usually pabst blue ribbon) in their grain feed ( i drink a 12 pack a week at home ) and by the time they think they can "take " me its time for the butcher block.
The hog is another matter , they get grain and beer fed they almost go feral.usually i get rest. scraps from the kitchens for them but switch to a mix of beer soaked grain and the scraps .
glad i dont have to face either for the next year, im getting old and slow..
hogs bite and dont let go.
i would pay to see someone put a muffler and caty converter on a cow or hog.... cheap entertainment in my book. especially the ones i have raised after beer and grain fed.
but they're tasty!
I raised hogs as 4H projects and yeah, they can be mean. My brother and my dad were gone from the house one day and pig pen fell down. So my mother and I went out there, got the pigs rounded up, then I started repairing the fence. I was on the inside fixing it when one of the mean old sows decided it was going to attack me. My mother is screaming at me to get away from her but when that sow walked up on me I turned around and banged her on the nose with the hammer. She squealed, my mom calmed down, and the fence got fixed.
When we lived on a dairy farm, a mean old cow broke my dad's hand. Didn't help that he punched her in the head with the same hand after she managed to swing herself up on the gate trapping my dad's hand between the gate and the wall.
Just how many after lives are there? (excluding Chinese Hells)
Some are actually smarter (and meaner) than others.
Carried a .44 mag after the first time a bull came at me and rammed me into a fence.
Never shot one; but they saw the look in my eye.
Most times a handful of range cubes makes even the meanest of bulls compliant.
Good question! I know of only one afterlife (according to my faith).
That's probably why there aren't any groundhogs in China.
Please explain what you mean by "Chinese Hells". My wife and some others would like to know that, and why a Chinese Hell would be any different whatsoever from an American Hell, or any other Hell.
I was talking about cows, Buzz. I wouldn't eat a groundhog if you grilled it, covered it in Tabasco and offered me $1000 to eat it
I think you need to watch the movie "Big Trouble in Little China". In that movie they explain the "Chinese Hells" as a comedy.
I wouldn't eat a groundhog if you grilled it, covered it in Tabasco and offered me $1000 to eat it
Don't be too quick, when any of our dogs kill a critter like a possum, skunk, or raccoon they just leave them lay, but catch and kill a groundhog they fight over it and the winner eats it immediately. I think it's because the groundhog is strictly a vegetarian and better tasting not unlike a cow. I never eaten groundhog but my grandparents did.
You know it's a rodent, right?
Oooops! Sorry. I misunderstood.
I never saw it, but I just read the storyline, and I'd love to be able to watch it.
Hold up... Gobbler's Knob? No wonder someone made the wise decision to use Punxsutawney as an identifier on Groundhog Day. Gobbler's Knob Phil loses a little something in translation.
no comment
I would say, "Get a hold of yourself!" But...
Amazon just sent me a copy of GHD. Haven't stripped off the plastic yet.
Later with popcorn and Tequila.
WTH
These critters ran all over our property when I was growing up. They like to dig a lot of holes. And eat cabbage
When I lived in Missouri we had Rocky our resident groundhog who lived on the property. I used to leave grapes on the driveway and he'd come on the driveway and eat them. He was a hoot.
I had to move my shed because one dug under it and undermined the blocks it was sitting on. There's an abandoned town in England that was taken over by the military during WW2 for training and they kept it as a base afterwards and all the building are made of stone but it's falling down because Groundhogs have dug under the walls for the last 70 years.
I remember seeing them where I live many years ago, but not recently
Has there been a lot of construction in your area? That could be why they've gone MIA
No, where I saw them, was in the back of my condo, there's a common area between my building and the back of the one of the other parts of the condo community where I live - a grassy area - where I used to see them from time to time. I think they're cute.
I don't mind them but my dad hated them because they were always eating his cabbage
Don't see a shadow.
All right damnit.. now you owe me for the cost of cleaning my monitor. Laughed so hard and so suddenly that I spit some coffee up there...
Phil flipped the switch on his sunlamp.
Holy Cow! That's some snow!
It is the most snow NY has had in five years.
We had a Noreaster which didn't turn out to be too much.
I'm a bit concerned for my aunt who lives across the river from Philly in New Jersey
I'm sure other places got it a lot worse. . . . I hope she's okay. . .I was just cleaning off my car - maybe about four inches of snow underneath a layer of ice - took me a little over a 1/2 hour to clean it off and move the snow that was plowed away from the front of my car - so I could just pull out in the morning when I go to work
I had to sweep the sand out of the car after returning from the beach...
I had to rinse the duck poo off the sidewalk on the way to the mail box.
you think sand gets everywhere? try raising chickens and using straw bedding and wipe your ....... nevermind.
yer killing me...
What black SUV?
Don't rub it in
First, "ugh" the gator in the storm drain. Second, "heart" the frog. Third: Damn! You got jokes!
The real danger is falling iguanas.
That is true, Ender.
Yes, but when the snow melts I will be in NYC...
Better you than me...
Or me, lol.
Lawn chair all afternoon... Yuma!!
They don't have parking bans when it snows? We aren't allowed to park on the streets during snow storms, they tow you if you do.
It is NYC. There is no place else to park...
Hey, I saw my groundhog today..... no shadow on Long Island... why doesn't that count?
Don't quote me on this, but I think locale plays a part.
It only counts if it's done at Gobbler's Knob
Now that you mention it: That does not sound right. (Being on the opposite coast, why have I been so interested (worried even?) about this tradition. I tell you, I needed this column to get some perspective! -Chuckles.)
Also, a very old rodent by now - and how about all those "massages" it gets from the gloved one who snatches it up and 'molests' it? EASY!!
it does. it just doesn't mean that winter will end earlier.
The varmint cong! Oh wait, that was gopher...
They're furry. They dig holes. They're brown. Is there a difference?
Not much.
You only find gophers on golf courses
Only one way to deal with the varmint.
.
Don't drive angry...
My cousin, Luther Walks the Horse (meteorologist) will be watching the Super Bowl in Red Lake MN. The HIGH TEMP will be -16, that's right the high will be 16 degrees below zero.
Luther has reported on some of the biggest and coldest storms ever to hit Minnesota and North Dakota.
This is one of his most infamous weather broadcasts. (he was suspended from the TV station for one year over this one)
PITA was pretty pissed at Luther instead of seeing if the groundhog saw his shadow, Luther was wearing the groundhog.
Now why would he get suspended over that report? It was accurate, wasn't it?
Very accurate.
It is that cancel culture I tell ya. Trying to silence voices!
I know, it's horrible. Although Luther at times really needs his voice silenced especially after a couple of beers.
Damnit, it's cold outside you fucking idiot. Stay inside by a fire...
I swear, here it could actually snow and people would still be wearing shorts.
bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
It's partly cloudy today and 71 (feels warmer). There is a 5% chance of rain. I can see shadows. I just took this picture.
Teaser. What a quaint little cove. (I am not jealous. I really am not! It's not allowed me as a matter of my beliefs!)
Nice pool. I gotta win the lottery I tell ya....
It turns out we had a high of 76 yesterday.
Let me guess...Florida
No. I live in Los Angeles, in the part of town that gets the warmest when it's warm and the coldest when it's cold.
No groundhogs here to make predictions, it's too damn cold for them:)
Canada's weather-predicting groundhogs call for early spring
Well, THAT's a switch, eh? Maybe everyone should have come to Wiarton, Ontario.
usually on this date in a normal weather year , ild be inside with the wood stove and some hot cider with teens and twenties temps, today , as it has been for the last week or so it was unseasonably warm , so warm i debated unwinterizing the harley to take it out for a ride. temps for the past few days have consistantly been in the high 40s , to mid 50s with today topping out at 57, with another first for here. no wind. needless to say my girls( the chickens) are all scrambled up and have gone on strike about egg production....
I think I'm getting some of that blowing in from the west. It was almost 50 today. Supposed to be like that all week, but next week the highs aren't supposed to be above freezing.
all points of the compass around me has been getting snow all year long now , the mnts to my west concern me because usually by now they are nothing but snow covered , this year they are not .
i usually say storms go around me . to the south or north , i call where i live being in the temperate doughnut hole , havent used a shovel let alone my snow blower or the plow on the ATV this year , just no snow.
Bite me Punxsutawney Phil. You didn't see your shadow...
Found this dandelion out back today. It's a Feb Dandy!
Is that a dandelion or is it Colt's foot?
Colt's foot sends the flower up first before the foliage with the flower very similar to the dandelion even turning white and fluffy before the wind takes the seeds away.
I think it's a dandelion. The leaves aren't very robust in the winter, and they're about half covered, but there's a couple there. Long and jagged, right?
To be sure, is the flower on top of a smooth tubular stalk, a dandelion, or is it on a stout fuzzy green stalk, colt's foot?
LOL. It's a dandelion. Sheesh.
And here I thought this was a dandy lion...
The dandiest of them all, because of the bow.
that "yote" has my handlebar stache, im like mikey , ill eat anything ......almost
I've never understood the logic that seeing one's shadow - i.e. the sun is out - means bad weather ahead, while not seeing a shadow - i.e. it's cloudy - means good weather ahead. Seems counterintuitive.
Seeing one's shadow in the winter (Michigan) means colder weather ahead, cloudy means warmer albeit stormier weather. I don't know it you heard the term "too cold to snow" which is what happens here with polar vortexes or strong high pressure systems.
I believe the full saying goes it the groundhog sees it's shadow it means 6 more weeks of winter, but if not it means a month and a half till spring. Let's analyze that: 6 weeks = 42 days, a month and a half is 30 days +15 days or 45 days, but depending on the length of month you use, it will range from 42 days to 46 days. So it would seem that not seeing a shadow means a longer winter.
I think the groundhog legend is that if he sees his shadow it scares him and he runs back into his den for six more weeks, taking spring with him.
But yeah, it is counterintuitive. A bright, sunny day would seem to better correlate with an early spring.
It's all kind of silly. Spring is farther off than 6 weeks from Groundhog's Day for much of the country, anyway.
woo hoo! ................ >cough< >cough< >hack< >hack< >cough< >cough< >wheeze< >hock< >spit< damn those heaper bowls ...
that asshole...no wonder he saw his shadow! He's stoned out of his gourd!