All signs point to bundling up, because six more weeks of winter is on the horizon — at least, according to Michigan’s official groundhog Woody the Woodchuck.
Woody gave her prediction during an annual celebration at Howell Nature Center on Feb. 2, seeing her shadow and running back into her den at the last moment.
The anxious (and chilly) crowd was covered in a flurry of snowflakes leading up to the highly-anticipated prediction, which came around 8:30 a.m. when the doors of “Woody’s House” opened and the 30-second timer began.
Woody initially left her den, returning just seconds before the timer ended. She popped her head out again, but the timer had already ended and sealed the prediction, according to Senior Director of Wildlife and Education Laura Butler.
Woody has been sharing her predictions since 1999, and has been right 63% of the time, according to officials at Howell Nature Center.
While the annual celebration on Groundhog Day is a fun, family-friendly event, the organization also wants to educate residents about woodchucks and how to live in harmony with them. Woody spends her days at Howell Nature Center’s Wild Wonders Wildlife Park.
Animals in the program, known as ambassadors, can’t be released back into the wild — oftentimes because of the actions of a human, Butler said.
“We try very hard to teach people how to live in harmony with these animals,” she said.
Children, parents and grandparents split themselves up based on whether they were rooting for a longer winter or early spring; and a few children participated in the center’s costume contest — dressing as winter, spring or even Woody.
The winner of this year’s contest was a young boy dressed as a banana. His outfit included a sign saying his costume was “a bribe for early spring.”
This year was a first for many people in the crowd, including Jenny Ziegenhagen and her nine-year-old daughter, Diem. The mother-daughter duo are from South Lyon.
Although they didn’t get the prediction they were hoping for, Diem said she enjoyed her time and especially loved seeing Woody come out for the prediction.
According to legend, Woody arrived at the organization in 1998 as an orphan rescued by a farmer’s wife. Punxsutawney Phil, the popular rodent of Pennsylvania, agreed with Woody — also predicting six more weeks of winter.
— Contact reporter Makayla Coffee at mcoffee@livingstondaily.com.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Michigan’s official groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter
Reporting by Makayla Coffee, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
