Pennsylvania has their Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog who has forecast weather every February 2 for generations, so it seemed appropriate that West Texas should have a pint-size Prairie Dog Pete to give folks on the Panhandle and South Plains a guess at whether cold and wintry days will continue.
Legend has it that if the groundhog sees his shadow, winter will last six more weeks. If no shadow is seen, it is supposed to mean an early spring. Of course, around Amarillo and Lubbock, nobody knows, but it’s a fun legend. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, Phil is correct about 35% to 40% of the time, but one could say that about local meteorologists as well.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club claims the groundhog (not the same one of course) has been making predictions since 1887; however, a new groundhog is selected periodically to be the new “Phil.” It’s quite a task to perform, according to some previous groundhogs.
Although there is a movement by PETA underway to replace the famous groundhog with an animatronic one powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the tradition continues with the live, human-handled Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania— and possibly a new prairie dog in the Panhandle-South Plains.
The prairie dog, also dubbed as a Sod Poodle by Amarillo’s Triple A baseball team, is closely related to a groundhog. They are both in the squirrel family as rodents and are part of the same tribe of Marmotini, of larger ground squirrels, which share ancestors but have adapted to different environments.
Prairie dogs live in colonies of around 16 members, while groundhogs like more solitary living quarters. The prairie dogs live in large communal colonies, called towns, such as can be seen off 45th Avenue in Amarillo or Lubbock’s Prairie Dog Town.
Groundhogs are also stockier and larger than prairie dogs, who have a broader range across North America, according to the Colorado Virtual Library.
Shadows and animals aside, the area’s weather forecast at least for the short term looks to be much warmer and milder than recent weeks, with highs expected in the 50s and 60s in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Who needs Punxatawney Phil when West Texans have Prairie Dog Pete?
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
