Well, here it is time again for my (almost) annual Groundhog Day blog. Groundhogs aren\u2019t particularly glamorous, or cute and are generally just annoying. On Groundhog Day they come out of their hole and see their shadow \u2014or not. Big deal. Why they get their own day is a bit of a mystery, but if for no other reason than we\u2019ve made it through January, February 2nd is a good day to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Attempting to write about groundhogs and their day every year, and mention something new, is challenging at best. So if you\u2019re thinking you\u2019ve read this before\u2026 well, it is<\/em> Groundhog Day.<\/p>\n Groundhogs are one of the few animals that really<\/em> hibernate. Hibernation is not just a deep sleep \u2014 it\u2019s actually a deep coma, where the body temperature drops to a few degrees above freezing, the heart barely beats, the blood scarcely flows and breathing nearly stops. During hibernation (about 150 days) a groundhog will lose no more than a fourth of its body weight due to all the energy saved by this lower metabolism.<\/p>\n Alaska has replaced Groundhog Day with Marmot Day. When Sarah Palin was Governor in 2009, she signed a bill proclaiming February 2 as Marmot Day \u2014 an Alaskan holiday that celebrates frontier life.<\/p>\n All through history, numerous holidays have marked the seasonal crossroads between\u00a0 the winter solstice and the spring equinox around the early part of February. February 2nd is also Candlemas Day \u2014 a Christian holiday that celebrates Mary\u2019s ritual purification. Early Christians believed that if the sun came out on Candlemas Day, winter would last six more weeks. The ancient Romans observed a \u201cmid-season\u201d festival in early February as did the pagan Irish.<\/p>\n So if the groundhog wants to have his day, I\u2019ll go along with it \u2014 but for the rest of the year, I\u2019d just like to know how get rid of them\u2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, here it is time again for my (almost) annual Groundhog Day blog. Groundhogs aren\u2019t particularly glamorous, or cute and are generally just annoying. On Groundhog Day they come out of their hole and see their shadow \u2014or not. Big … Continue reading
\n\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n