NEWS

Groundhog Day facts: Phil, the badger, the elixir

Dominique Bonessi
USAToday

People just can't get enough of Groundhog Day. The symbolic day and its psychic friend — a furry rodent that makes a grand appearance to forecast either the end of winter or six more weeks of it — are chock-full of folklore and superstition. Here are some wacky facts for those waiting for sunnier days and warmer weather.

1. Last year, New York City's groundhog, Charlotte, predicted six more weeks of winter. She proceeded to fall from Mayor Bill de Blasio's arms and land on her head, leading to the rodent's death a week later. De Blasio is no longer authorized to hold the animal.

A groundhog breaks free from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, and drops to the stage during the 2014 Groundhog Day ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo in New York.

2. Dupont Circle's Groundhog Day tradition in Washington is to display a taxidermied groundhog, Potomac Phil. The Washington Post reports that the gimlet-eyed animal stands on a wooden board, gnawing cornstalks while accordion players perform The Potomac Phil Polka.

Children  look at Potomac Phil, a taxidermied groundhog at the first annual Dupont Circle Ground Hog Day celebration in Washington on Feb. 2, 2012.

3. The founding town of the most famous Groundhog Day celebration, Punxsutawney, Pa., hosts upward of 18,000 spectators Groundhog Eve to await sunrise for Punxsutawney Phil to make his grand entrance. The celebration includes a Groundhog Club banquet, bingo, a top hat decorating contest and a fireworks show.

A crowd waits for Punxsutawney Phil to come out of his den on the 126th annual Groundhog Day festivities Feb. 2, 2012, in Punxsutawney, Pa.

4. According to folklore, the iconic Punxsutawney Phil was born in 1887 making him 123 years old. Although the average groundhog lives 10 years, Phil is an anomaly, says the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. His longevity is due to an elixir called "groundhog punch," administered during the summer annual Groundhog Picnic. The magic punch is supposed to guarantee seven more years of life, according to caretakers.

The iconic Punxsutawney Phil.

5. "The Inner Circle," Punxsutawney Phil's entourage, sports the top hats and tuxedos we see at the annual ceremony and cares for Phil throughout the year. The 15 members of this distinguished group each have their own nicknames based on their groundhog duties such as "Shingle Shaker" and "Iceman."

Groundhog handler Ben Hughes holds up Punxsutawney Phil. Phil did not see his shadow predicting an early spring during festivities Feb. 2, 2007.

6. Punxsutawney Phil has expressed his opinion about historical events throughout his lifetime. During the 1920s Prohibition era, Phil proclaimed 60 weeks of winter if he wasn't allowed a drink. In 1958, during the launch of Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, Phil announced that the satellite should be called the "United States Chucknik."

Punxsutawney Phil, right, is held by Ben Hughes after emerging from his burrow on Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa.

7. Groundhog Day originated from German settlers who came to the USA in the early 1800s. Before their arrival in America, Germans would look to the badger to forecast weather. Upon immigrating to Pennsylvania, settlers replaced their beloved European badger with the groundhog, more easily found in the USA.

A badger at Don Hunford's property in Benfleet, England.

8. In Canada, groundhog Wiarton Willie died the Sunday before Groundhog Day in 1999, but the news of his death remained a secret until Feb. 3, according to CBC News.

Friends and associates of Wiarton Willie, the groundhog weather forecaster from Ontario, Canada, pay their last respects to their furry friend in 1999.