Punxsutawney Phil facts for kids

Phil being held by a member of the Inner Circle on February 2, 2018

Punxsutawney Phil is a famous groundhog who lives near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He is the main star of the yearly Groundhog Day celebration.

The Groundhog Day Tradition

Every year on February 2, Punxsutawney hosts a big festival with music and food. This event starts early in the morning, even before the sun comes up. During the ceremony, Phil comes out of his temporary home on Gobbler's Knob, which is a rural area about 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of town.

According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and goes back into his hole, it means there will be six more weeks of winter weather. But if Phil does not see his shadow, it means an "early spring" is on its way!

Punxsutawney's event is the most well-known of many Groundhog Day festivals in the United States and Canada. The official event started in 1887, but its roots go back even further.

This fun event is based on a light-hearted idea where people pretend that the same groundhog has been making predictions since the 1800s!

The "Inner Circle" organizes the event. You can spot them by their top hats and tuxedos. They are the ones who supposedly talk to Phil to get his weather prediction.

The vice president of the Inner Circle gets two scrolls ready before the ceremony. One scroll says there will be six more weeks of winter, and the other says spring will come early. At sunrise on February 2, Punxsutawney Phil wakes up. His handlers help him get to the top of a stump. Then, he supposedly tells the president of the Inner Circle, in a special language called "Groundhogese," whether he saw his shadow.

The president of the Inner Circle is the only person who can understand Groundhogese. He uses an old acacia wood cane to help him. After understanding Phil's message, the president tells the vice president which scroll to read to the crowd. People gather on Gobbler's Knob, and many more "faithful followers" watch live broadcasts around the world.

The Inner Circle actually plans the Groundhog Day ceremonies ahead of time. They decide beforehand whether Phil will "see his shadow" or not. Sometimes, the weather conditions on Groundhog Day don't match the prediction. For example, there have been times when the Inner Circle said Phil saw his shadow even though it was cloudy, raining, or snowing. And once, they said he didn't see his shadow even though it was sunny!

When it's not Groundhog Day, Phil lives with his mate, Phyllis, at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library. They live in a special climate-controlled home. In March 2024, the Inner Circle announced that Phil and Phyllis had two baby groundhogs! This was a big surprise because they thought groundhogs didn't have babies in captivity. Because of the babies, the groundhog family will now live permanently at Gobbler's Knob. However, the Inner Circle has said that these babies will not take over their father's job.

The Story of Punxsutawney Phil

The traditions and stories about Punxsutawney Phil's predictions are all part of a fun, make-believe game. According to the lore, there is only one Phil, and all other groundhogs are just pretending to be him. It's claimed that this one groundhog has lived since 1886, making weather predictions. He supposedly stays alive by drinking "groundhog punch" or "elixir of life" at the yearly Groundhog Picnic in the fall. In real life, a groundhog usually lives for about six years in the wild.

The Groundhog Club says that after his prediction, Phil speaks to the club president in "Groundhogese." Only the current president can supposedly understand this language. Then, his prediction is translated and shared with everyone.

The Groundhog Day celebration comes from Germanic traditions. These traditions said that if a hibernating animal cast a shadow on February 2, which is the Christian holiday of Candlemas, then winter and cold weather would last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, spring would come early. In Germany, the tradition changed into a myth that if the sun came out on Candlemas, a hedgehog would cast its shadow, meaning snow would last until May. When German immigrants moved to Pennsylvania, they used local animals instead. So, groundhogs took the place of hedgehogs. Several other towns in the region also have similar Groundhog Day events.

Phil first got his name in 1961. No one is completely sure where the name came from, but some people think it might have been named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Phil's Past Predictions

How Accurate is Phil?

The Inner Circle, keeping up with the fun tradition, says that Phil's predictions are 100% accurate! They claim that if a prediction seems wrong, it's because the person translating Phil's message made a mistake. However, other estimates suggest that the groundhog's predictions are accurate about 35% to 41% of the time.

See also

In Spanish: Punxsutawney Phil para niños

• Balzac Billy, the official groundhog of Balzac, Alberta, Canada
• Buckeye Chuck, the official groundhog of Marion, Ohio, United States
• Fred la Marmotte, the official groundhog of Val-d'Espoir, Quebec, Canada
• General Beauregard Lee, the official groundhog of Jackson, Georgia, United States (and by extension, the entire Southern US)
• Gus the Groundhog, mascot of the Pennsylvania Lottery
• Shubenacadie Sam, the official groundhog of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Staten Island Chuck, the official groundhog of New York City, New York, United States
• Stormy Marmot, a yellow-bellied marmot who is part of the Groundhog Day celebrations of Aurora, Colorado, United States.
• Wiarton Willie, the official groundhog of Wiarton, Ontario, Canada