Feb. 2 is the day the groundhog is said to leave its hole after winter hibernation. According to tradition, if it sees its shadow, there are six more weeks of winter weather still to come.
That’s about all most people know about Groundhog Day. This week’s trivia challenge by Amy Ferguson, Albion Library branch manager for the Whitman County Library, is a test to see if you know more than most. The Whitman County Library’s online trivia challenge takes place at 5:30 p.m. the third Thursday of each month on its Facebook page.
- Besides “groundhog,” what is another name for this animal?
- From which nationality of immigrants did the Groundhog Day tradition originate from?
- What did the original Groundhog Day participants eat?
- Besides Punxsutawney Phil, what are the names of three other weather-predicting groundhogs?
- Approximately what percentage of time is Phil accurate at predicting the length of winter?
ANSWERS
- Groundhogs are also called whistle pigs or woodchucks.
- German immigrants.
- They ate real groundhogs.
- General Beau Lee of Atlanta, Ga.; Sir Walter Wally from Raleigh, N.C.; and Birmingham Bill from Birmingham, Ala.
- Approximately 40 percent. Phil is correct about 39 percent of the time -- worse than random chance.
