The whole groundhog day thing, it’s kind of fun, but they really are not very good at predicting weather.
They have a horrible prediction rate, being correct just over one third of the time. Lucy the Lobster really doesn’t have much of a track record, only making predictions for the last couple years, but she’s been pretty good so far.
But the thing is, animals are not very good at predicting the weather. Although really, people, with all their satellites and radar and scientific instruments aren’t much better some days.
There is one thing we do know for sure. No matter what any rodents or crustaceans may say, there will be six more weeks of winter. Almost seven. Because… the calendar. Winter when it is supposed to. Whether or not the temperatures warm before or after that date is anyone’s guess.
But there has been one thing that I have noticed over the past few years. On years when we have long, snowy winters, I tend to notice more groundhogs on the sides of the highways. There are never a lot of them, but their numbers just seem a bit greater on those years when winter just does not want to let go.
Are these critters victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or are drivers taking out their frustrations on the poor little things because they failed to predict an early spring?
