The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, which claims it is the same animal that has been making predictions for 130 years thanks to the “elixir of life”, claims that Phil is 100% correct. claims Phil is 100% correct.
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The Punxsutawney celebration is initiated by a group of hunters who took the rodent as a pet for a ritual held every February 2, about 110 kilometers northeast of Pittsburgh. The ritual has pagan roots that attribute supernatural powers to animals between the winter equinox and the spring solstice.
In the Christian calendar, this date coincides with Purification Day, when believers believe that a clear sky heralds a long winter and a cloudy day portends the imminent end of winter.
Phil is not the only groundhog meteorologist, but he is the most famous. Other places in North America have their own: General Bo Lee (Atlanta), Wiarton Willie (Ontario, Canada), Sir Walter Wally (Raleigh, North Carolina), Jimmy (Wisconsin), Chuck (New York), Birmingham Bill (Birmingham, Alabama), and Potomac Phil, the stuffed groundhog, in Washington, D.C.
