Happy Groundhog Day!

Yep, it's that time of year again when we get to fawn over the cuteness of a little groundhog being taken out to see shadows... or not see shadows, depending on what the coming year will be like. Tom Chapin, the editor of the Puxsutawney Spirit newspaper describes Groundhog Day as: "a lot like a rock concert but the people are better behaved and there's a groundhog involved... There's music and entertainment, spoofs of game shows, and people shooting t-shirts and beanie babies."

Wow, sounds like fun. But of course the real attraction of the whole day is seeing Phil the Groundhog energe from his burrow (er, a simulated version of a tree-stump) that's located on the rural site of Gobbler's Knob. If he sees his own shadow then winter will continue for another 6 weeks.

But it doesn't matter whether Phil sees his shadow or not, because he'll "speak" to his human caretakers - known as the Inner Circle - and tell them in Groundhogese what his forecast is. Apparently.

A good fact about Punxsutawney Phil is that he's supposed to be immortal - according to some Phil was born no later than the 19th Century, making him at the least 111 and at the most 210 years old! Phil's secret to longevity is an "elixir of life" that is served to him every year, but curiously there are no photographs...

This year Phil's going technological and will send his forecast out by text (I don't know if it will work here in the UK or if it's only for the US but National Geographic says that if you text "groundhog" to 247365 then you'll get his forecast sent straight to your mobile!) And to prove he's even more down with the kids, he'll be updating his Facebook and Twitter pages!

News just in: Phil HAS SEEN his own shadow so we're in for 6 more weeks of winter, apparently!

Well that was fun - if I can find a video I'll post it later!