Groundhog Day

[ColinEssex]

Is Groundhog Day a real public holiday in the US? Or is it a made-up thing by Hollywood.

If it's real, do Americans really believe a small furry animal talks to a man and predicts the weather? In other words, what is the point of it?

Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Col, in the sense of it being an official "day off from work" holiday, no. However, there IS a weather trend that is celebrated on Groundhog Day. It is the day when you play the odds with weather patterns and predict weather because of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day

Then again, Col, sometimes you make a holiday for laughs, not because you believe in a prognosticating member of rodentia. We know it is a ground squirrel or a wood-chuck. We know it is dumber than a box of rocks. We know that Groundhog Day is a silly holiday. But life is too damned short to not laugh now and then just for the sake of it.

 

[NauticalGent]

Without it, we wouldn't have been able to have a that hilarious movie starring Bill Murray.

 

[KenHigg]

According to the wiki it has roots in German tradition, so maybe just leveraged by Hollywood to make money

 

[scott-atkinson]

According to the wiki it has roots in German tradition, so maybe just leveraged by Hollywood to make money

I don't remember Lederhosen featuring prominantly in the movie...

 

[ColinEssex]

What happens to the little Groundhog after it has spoken the words of wisdom?

I suppose by American standards it it ritually killed as its a living creature, then eaten.

Col

 

[ColinEssex]

But life is too damned short to not laugh now and then just for the sake of it.

Laugh? Oh yes I remember. I did that back in the 1970's once. Certainly haven't done it since.

Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

What happens to the little Groundhog after it has spoken the words of wisdom?

So far as I know, he goes back into his cage and gets fed. At least, the "official" groundhog is treated as a pampered pet. Punxatawney Phil is loved too much as a mascot to be sacrificed and eaten. Besides, he's even smaller than a nutria, and only a Cajun would eat a nutria. (Coypu, if your knowledge of rodentiae extends to South American creatures.)