Michigan’s Groundhog Day star, Woody the Woodchuck, did not see her shadow Thursday morning, predicting an early spring. Many Michiganders gathered for the celebration held at the Howell Nature Center on Feb. 2 at 8:30 a.m.
Groundhog Day, which comes from a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition, became a holiday in 1887 and is now a nationwide celebration every Feb. 2. The day is the halfway point between winter and spring, which is when groundhogs leave their burrow.
Legend says that if a groundhog leaves their burrow and goes back in, there will be six more weeks of winter; If they stay outside and see their shadow, there will be an early spring.
Honestly though, in Michigan, spring coming in six weeks is pretty early already and any earlier than that would be a miracle in and of itself.
Pennsylvania’s famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, did see his shadow, meaning that there will be six more weeks of winter. However, throughout the years, Phil has only been accurate 38% of the time, while Michigan’s Woody has an accuracy rate of 67%.
Howell Nature Center says that Woody has been making predictions with them for 25 years.
After becoming an orphan and being kept as an illegal pet by a farmer’s wife in 1998, Woody was brought to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Howell. Being raised by people, she was too friendly, a quality that was unable to be reversed and would leave her vulnerable if let back into the wild.
“Woody will live forever, Woody will never leave us,” Laura Butler, director of wildlife and education, said.
In the wild, groundhogs only live for around four to six years, but can live for up to 14 in captivity, according to PBS.
Mysteriously, famous Groundhog Day groundhogs live forever, at least in spirit.
“She doesn't really much enjoy coming out for this event, but we love seeing her and she gets lots of treats after and we make it a really positive experience for her,” Jen Ewing, Wild Wonders park coordinator, said. “It's not something we force her to do, she very much gets excited for it, she does her little thing, then takes a nap.”
Howell Nature Center is Michigan's largest rehabilitation center which rehabilitates 2,000 to 4,300 animals every year. In one year, the nature center will see about 150 species and tries hard to release them all.
“We do not keep animals here for fun, every animal here is here for a reason,” Ewing said. “We give them a second chance at life.”
The Groundhog Day Celebration is a free event that the nature center puts on that lets people take advantage of the amenities they have to offer.
“The community has really grown and started to get really excited over our Groundhog Day celebration over the years,” Hannah Idoni, community engagement and events manager said. “Each year it seems to continue to grow and we're really happy everyone likes to come out and celebrate with us.”
