Happy Groundhog Day!
Christina made friends with a curious groundhog years ago. All it takes is some tasty grocery store produce. She didn't know it would be a long-term relationship, but now she's friends with the second generation of groundhogs. You can see more of Cutie, Dustin, Frank the turkey, and all the suburban wildlife in Christina's backyard at Instagram.
While we celebrate Groundhog Day thinking about the weather, or maybe a time loop, how much do you really know about groundhogs? Groundhogs (Marmota monax) are also called woodchucks, marmots, moonacks, weenusks, red monks, land beavers, or whistle pigs, among other names. They are rodents in the family of ground squirrels. They can climb trees when threatened, but prefer to hide in their underground burrows. Groundhogs spend all summer eating as much as possible, mostly grass, although they prefer flowers and they love vegetables from your garden when they find them. Then groundhogs retreat to their burrows for winter hibernation. They often dig a second, deeper chamber for hibernation below the frost line that can keep them warm. How long a groundhog hibernates depends on the local climate, with southern groundhogs emerging earlier, maybe even in February. That's why they were chosen to forecast the length of the remaining winter weather.