February 2nd is Groundhog day which is a weather forecast done by a psychic, prognosticating groundhog. This might seem a bit strange, but lo and behold, it’s not as strange as you might think. Psychic animals are relatively abundant.
Groundhog
Groundhog day is a popular tradition that has its beginnings in a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition. It has been celebrated since 1887 when Phil, the groundhog comes out of its burrow in Punxsutawney Pennsylvania at daybreak. Simply put, if he sees his shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t there will be an early spring.
But alas, there’s more to it than just that. After Phil awakens he is helped to the top of his stump. He then explains to the President of the Inner Circle, in “Groundhogese” whether or not he saw his shadow. The President of the Inner Circle is the only person who understands this language. The President subsequently tells the Vice President which scroll to read to the crowd awaiting the news. Phil is then held up like Simba, the Lion King, so the crowd can be awed.
Within the last 20 years Phil saw his shadow 12 times when it was either cloudy, raining or snowing. Once he missed seeing it despite the sunshine. Maybe he blinked at the wrong moment. In reality the Inner Circle decides beforehand if Phil will seen his shadow or not. So I guess that makes Phil a bit of a marionette, poor fellow.
Will the Real Phil Please Stand Up
General Beauregard Lee is a groundhog from Georgia. For Pennsylvanians General Lee is a wannabe because only Phil is the psychic. For Georgians their groundhog is the real deal.
This year, 2020, a light snow was falling in Punxsutawney on February 2nd. Phil said he didn’t see his shadow and there will be an early spring. Georgia enjoyed a sunny day, consequently General Lee saw his shadow. So who do you believe?
As to how accurate the predictions are, well, it depends on to whom you speak. If you ask the ‘Inner Circle’ in Pennsylvania they say 100%. They claim that if a prediction turns out to be incorrect, then the President must have misunderstood what Phil said. After all, Groundhogese isn’t an easy language and Phil is never wrong. If you ask an impartial party, they’ll say the groundhog’s accuracy is between 35% and 40%.
Although a good deal of the Pennsylvania Dutch are originally Swiss, I have never heard of such a tradition here. But it does appear to be a Germanic tradition. Go figure, a psychic rodent.
Weather and Other Animal predictors
The whole thing of observing animals to forecast the weather probably revolves around farming. Being a step ahead of the weather can’t hurt any farmer.
I mentioned how watching birds can tell the weather in my post ‘How’s the Weather These Days?’ When they fly high then it will be good weather. If they fly closer to the ground then it means a storm is on the way. The lower they fly the worse the weather will be. Like I mentioned in my post, it probably has to do with air pressure. Where their meals, the insects, are flying because birds fly at that height to eat them.
Sayings
There are a few sayings and rhymes referring to animals and weather.
Trout jump high, when a rain is nigh.
When sheep gather in a huddle, tomorrow will be a puddle.
When ladybugs swarm, expect a day that’s warm.
Other Animals and Insects
When cows sense bad weather they become restless, expect rain or storm. They then lie down to save themselves a dry spot. After all, who wants to lie down on a wet bed? When red and black ants build up their mound for extra protection then bad weather is to be expected.
It is also said that when frogs croak longer and louder than usual then bad weather is on the horizon. But frogs can predict more than just the weather. In 2009 practically all the toads in a pond in L’Aquilla, Italy abandoned it days before an earthquake hit the area. Obviously they felt something that humans didn’t.
So, as you can see, there are lots of other weather predictors out there, not just the meteorologist. All you have to do is keep your eyes and ears open. So if the sparrows are flying low, the trout are jumping, sheep are gathering, cows lying down, ants building small mountains and frogs being so noisy you can’t hear yourself think, run for shelter because you are probably in for a whopper of a storm.
Other Psychic, Prognosticating Animals
Some animals can predict important things. More often than not they predict soccer results. In 2014 Watson the sea lion, from France predicted the World Cup soccer quarter-finals correctly.
Pig Marcus
This pig predicted in 2018 the winner of Wimbledon, the outcome of the Brexit vote and Trump’s victory. If you give Marcus at least two apples to choose from he’ll predict probably anything. Marcus has a good track record although not 100%. He missed his goal when he predicted that England would beat Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-final.
Paul the Psychic Octopus
Paul the octopus made a huge splash so to speak in 2010. He correctly predicted the results of eight World Cup soccer matches against Germany. He followed that by predicting Spain would win, which they did. Then, probably from exhaustion, he died. For a cephalopod, he sure knew a lot about football. RIP Paul.
The Russian cat, Archilles
In 2018 from St. Peterburg, Archilles successfully predicted Russia would beat Saudi Arabia in the first match. You might counter that with of course a Russian cat picked Russia to win, how could he not? Well, it seems that Spartak the clairvoyant Russian lemur picked the Saudis. Russia beat Saudi Arabia 5-0. Another psychic animal fraudster exposed. Don’t let a lemur tell you which way to bet.
By the way, Spartak, I mean Archilles should I buy bitcoin? Too bad Paul isn’t around anymore.
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