the groundhog day tradition came from punxsutawney, pennsylvania.
where did the groundhog day tradition come from?
punxsutawney, pennsylvania
groundhog day (pennsylvania german: "grund'sau dåk", "grundsaudaag", "grundsow dawg", "murmeltiertag"; nova scotia: daks day) is a popular tradition celebrated in canada and the united states on 2 february. it derives from the pennsylvania dutch superstition that if a groundhog ("marmota monax", also called "woodchuck"; deitsch: "grundsau", "grunddax", "dax") emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early. while the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow or not and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.
groundhog day
the groundhog day celebrations of the 1880s were carried out by the punxsutawney elks lodge. the lodge members were the "genesis" of the groundhog club formed later, which continued the groundhog day tradition. but the lodge started out being interested in the groundhog as a game animal for food. it had started to serve groundhog at the lodge, and had been organizing a hunting party on a day each year in late summer.
groundhog day