Jokes for Groundhog Day
Over breakfast one morning, a woman said to her husband, ‘I bet you don’t know what day this is?’
‘Of course, I do,’ he answered indignantly, as he slammed the door, and drove to his office.
At 11 o’clock, the doorbell rang. The wife answered, and there at her front door was a UPS driver, in his hand was a box containing 12 red roses.
Later, at 2 pm there was another knock at the door, this time it was a deluxe box of Belgian chocolates.
Eventually, the husband came home, tired after a hard day’s work. His wife greeted him by saying: ‘First the flowers, then the chocolates, I’ve never had a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my life!’
Arizona Abner
Punxsutawney Phil’s cousin, Arizona Abner, was buried alive under a K-Mart parking lot, reports The Furious Bandercoot. Consequently, seven years of summers are expected for the whole state of Arizona.
Short Groundhog Jokes
- What do you get when you cross a groundhog with a pistachio? A green beast who predicts a dry spring, and acts like a nut.
- On Groundhog Day, what does it mean if Punxsutawney Phil comes out and sees the village idiot? Within 6 weeks you’ll have a village full of idiots.
- What happened when the groundhog met the dogcatcher? He became a pound hog!
- What do you call Punxsutawney Phil’s laundry? Hogwash.
- As Yogi Berra would say, “Groundhog Day is like Deja vu all over again”
Will and Guy’s Fun Facts and Interesting Trivia About Groundhogs
- The average groundhog is 20 inches long and normally weighs from 12 to 15 pounds. Punxsutawney Phil weighs about 20 pounds and is 22 inches long.
- Groundhogs are covered with coarse grayish hairs tipped with brown or sometimes dull red. They have short ears, short tails, short legs, and are surprisingly quick. Their jaws are exceptionally strong.
- A groundhog’s diet consists of lots of greens, fruits, and vegetables and very little water. Most of their liquids come from dewy leaves.
- A groundhog can whistle when it is alarmed. Groundhogs also whistle in the spring when they begin courting.
- Insects do not bother groundhogs and germs leave them alone. They are resistant to the plagues that periodically wipe out large numbers of wild animals. One reason for this is their cleanliness.
- Groundhogs are one of the few animals that really hibernate. Hibernation is not just a deep sleep. It is actually a deep coma, where the body temperature drops to a few degrees above freezing, the heart barely beats, the blood scarcely flows, and breathing nearly stops.
- Young Groundhogs are usually born in mid-April or May, and by July they are able to go out on their own. The size of the litter is 4 to 9. A baby groundhog is called a kit or a cub.
- A groundhog’s life span is normally 6 to 8 years. Phil receives a drink of a magical punch every summer during the annual Groundhog
Picnic, which gives him 7 more years of life.
Sayings for Candlemas and Groundhog Day
‘For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May…’
If Candlemas is fair and bright, Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again.
Archive: One of Punxsutawney Phil’s earlier Forecasts :
On Gobbler’s Knob, I see no shadow today.
I predict that early spring is on the way
According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring.
If the sun shines on Groundhog Day; Halve the fuel and halve the hay.
The 2007 forecast broke a seven-year streak where Phil saw his shadow on Groundhog Day.
Groundhog History
The legend of Groundhog Day is based on an old saying: ‘If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.’
The great, great, great, great grandfather of Punxsutawney Phil first made his prediction in 1887. Today’s Phil weighs in at about 1 stone (14 lbs). Whereas his wild groundhog (woodchuck) cousins eat grass with the occasional treat of a dandelion or clover; Punxsutawney Phil is pampered with ice cream and dog food.
On the big day – February the 2nd, Phil is taken to a special heated burrow underneath the artificial tree stump Gobbler’s Knob. After he performs his duty of checking his shadow, Phil is taken to his home in the Punxsutawney Library.
The Origins of Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day may be associated strongly with the 1993 Bill Murray film (see below), but its origins lie with German settlers in the 18th century. The name Punxsutawney, the town in Pennsylvania where the groundhog ceremony takes place every year, comes from the Indian name for the location “ponksad-uteney”, which means “the town of the sand flies”.
We have found that when German settlers arrived in the 1700s, they brought the celebration of Candlemas with them. German tradition holds that if the sun comes out on Candlemas, the hedgehog will see its shadow and six more weeks of winter will follow. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.
The German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the tradition but used a *groundhog rather than a hedgehog.
*The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck [Marmota monax], is a member of the squirrel family. Groundhogs in the wild eat succulent green plants, such as dandelion, clover, and grasses.
The first official Groundhog Day was on February 2nd, 1887, at Gobbler’s Knob, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, although its first reference can be found in 1841.
Today it is celebrated in the USA and Canada, with the most popular ceremony in Punxsutawney, although there are several others across both countries. Crowds in Punxsutawney can be as large as 40,000 and have increased in popularity since the Bill Murray film.
Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most famous groundhog, has seen his shadow nearly 100 times, has not seen it 15 times, and nine years are unaccounted for; Will and Guy feel it should be noted that he only has an accuracy rating of some 39%.
Groundhogs In Canada
- We hear word, that Canada has its versions of Groundhog Day, starring ‘Wee Willie Wiarton’.
- And there is another imposter called the Prairie Prognosticator, of Balzac, Alberta, Canada.
- There again, you could consult Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia.
Groundhog Day – The Film (1993)
The 1993 Groundhog film developed the original idea of repeating the same day over and over again but with different endings. Bill Murray stars as the weatherman Phil Connors who relives reporting on February 2nd – Groundhog Day at Gobbler’s Knob, Punxsutawney PA. Andie MacDowell co-stars as Rita his production assistant, who helps transform Phil’s character.
What makes the film an above-average comedy is the way Bill’s character transforms from a grouch, grumpy inadequate, into a rounded empathetic character who lives life to the full.
Since the Groundhog Day film, the saying has taken off, it was thought the phenomenon of events repeating themselves was crying out for a catchphrase – Groundhog Day.
