Happy Groundhog Day! There are several animals across the U.S. that serve as the official Groundhog

Happy Groundhog Day! There are several animals across the U.S. that serve as the official Groundhog Day weather predictor for their region. However, the most famous groundhog is Punxsutawney Phil, who lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Today, he saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.

In Louisiana, the Groundhog Day weather predictor is Parish, a nutria who lives at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Today, Parish was presented with two signs: one that read “early Spring” and one that read “long Winter”. Parish chose to go towards the “early Spring” sign, which shows that she disagrees with Punxsutawney Phil and predicts an early Spring. However, the predictions of any Groundhog Day animal are unreliable.

These engravings feature a Maryland marmot (groundhog) and a coypou (nutria).

Images from:

Cuvier, Georges. The animal kingdom: arranged in conformity with its organization. Vol. 3. London: printed for Geo. B. Whittaker, 1827-1835.

Call Number: QL45 .C943 1827 V.3

Catalog Record: https://bit.ly/3Go7lBN