COLUMBUS – A couple of furry rodents have predicted six more weeks of winter.
Buckeye Chuck in Marion and Punxsutawney Phil in western Pennsylvania both saw their shadows early Thursday morning and refused to come out of their burrows, signifying a long winter ahead.
According to folklore, if a groundhog sees his shadow at dawn on Feb. 2 there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, spring comes early.
Chuck began predicting the arrival of spring in the 1970s and was named the official State Groundhog by the General Assembly in 1979.
This is the first time in five year Chuck has predicted a late spring.
Not to be confused with the Chuck in Marion, New York City’s Staten Island Chuck made his prediction for an early spring at the Staten Island Zoo.