Punxutawney Phil Isn’t the Only Groundhog Predicting the Weather

Groundhog Day is here again, so that means that all around the country, adults and children alike are getting their weather forecast for the foreseeable future from a rodent. The most famous of these rodents is Punxutawney Phil from Punxutawney, Pa. But there are different iterations around the country with different ways of doing the exact same thing: telling people living in cold weather climates if it will be an early spring or if there will be six more weeks of winter.

Take Staten Island Chuck, for example. Instead of stepping outside and either seeing or not seeing his shadow, as is tradition, Chuck arrives in a glass cage, and his caretakers open one side of the cage. If Chuck steps outside his cage, it means an early spring. If he stays in the cage, six more weeks of winter. It’s surprising Staten Island doesn’t have an early spring every year given that all it takes is for a wild animal to leave his cage when given the chance.

There’s also Chattanooga Chuck in Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Buckeye Chuck in Marion, Ohio. But maybe the most amazing, or ridiculous if you’re a nonbeliever, is Milltown Mel in Milltown, N.J. Mel whispers into the ear of a man wearing a top hat, who then tells the anxious crowd the verdict in the form of a poem. What’s ridiculous about that? And, unlike Punxutawney Phil, Milltown Mel said it’s going to be an early spring.

Watch this Price Is Right contestant quit his job after spinning the wheel:

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