Conflicting Groundhogs

Each year I anxiously await the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil (he has his own website!). On less busy years I even celebrate with a viewing of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. So I was shocked to find out Phil is not the only groundhog people listen to - here is an incredible list. Who knew the Canadians use groundhogs to predict spring too? And, amazingly, the various groundhogs don't seem to agree. Although I grew up close to Pennsylvania, and actually met a girl from Punxsutawney in high school, I'm going to go with the Canadians on this one and hope for an early spring.

Besides, it appears that Phil is pulled out of his burrow very early - before the sun comes up! So how can he really tell...

Even more interesting (to me, anyway - it doesn't take much to humor me!) Germany has a similar tradition, involving a specific day in June and rain: if it rains that day, it will rain all summer. When I lived there, it did rain on the required day, and we had a miserable rainy summer. Gray skies for an entire year (winters are cloudy almost all the time). By the following spring we all were a little crazy.