EARLIER DURING NEWSDEPTH, WE TOLD YOU ABOUT PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL, THE GROUNDHOG WHO SAW HIS SHADOW - WHICH MEANS SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER.
BUT A NEIGHBORING GROUNDHOG MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THAT...AND THAT BRINGS US TO THIS WEEK'S KNOW OHIO, WHERE WE DIG INTO GROUNDHOG DAY AND MEET OHIO'S OWN FURRY METEOROLOGIST.
GROUNDHOG DAY ACTUALLY ORIGINATED FROM A EUROPEAN TRADITION, BUT INSTEAD OF A GROUNDHOG ...THEY USED HEDGEHOGS. MANY ANIMALS - LIKE GROUNDHOGS AND HEDGEHOGS - FATTEN UP DURING WARMER WEATHER AND HIBERNATE DURING THE WINTER MONTHS... HIBERNATION IS BASICALLY A VERY DEEP SLEEP.
DURING HIBERNATION - WHICH IS ABOUT 150 DAYS FOR ANYONE WHO IS WONDERING - BREATHING SLOWS DOWN TO ABOUT ONCE EVERY SIX MINUTES!
IF THE HEDGEHOG SAW ITS SHADOW, IT WAS AN OMEN OF SIX MORE WEEKS OF BAD WEATHER. YEARS LATER, EUROPEANS IMMIGRATED TO THE U.S., BRINGING THEIR CULTURAL TRADITIONS WITH THEM.
SINCE HEDGEHOGS ARE NOT NATIVE TO NORTH AMERICA, SETTLERS IN PENNSYLVANIA SEARCHED FOR A SIMILAR CREATURE AND DETERMINED GROUNDHOGS DISPLAYED A LOT OF THE SAME HABITS.
GROUNDHOG DAY WAS FIRST CELEBRATED IN THE UNITED STATES ON FEBRUARY 2, 1887. AND EVER SINCE THEN WE'VE TURNED TO THESE CREATURES FOR A FUN, QUIRKY WEATHER TRADITION.
HERE IN OHIO, WE HAVE OUR OWN 'FAMOUS' GROUNDHOG... HIS NAME IS BUCKEYE CHUCK AND HE LIVES IN MARION.
BUCKEYE CHUCK DID NOT SEE HIS SHADOW, SO THAT MEANS AN EARLY SPRING... WILL HE BE RIGHT? LOCAL OFFICIALS SAY HE'S RIGHT 70 PERCENT OF THE TIME.
THANKFULLY PHIL AND CHUCK WERE STILL SLEEPY DURING THEIR FORECASTING... BUT A GROUNDHOG IN WISCONSIN GOT A BIT FEISTY...
JIMMY THE GROUNDHOG ACTUALLY BIT THE TOWN'S MAYOR... I GUESS HE'S NOT TOO HAPPY ABOUT THE COLD WEATHER EITHER.