Groundhog Day!! February 2, 2010

[chixie]

Quote:
You could always come for a visit till it's over for y'all. Does it get OVER for y'all? Hope you don't mind the smell of commercial chicken houses.

Yay! I'm going to Gritty's house!

And i get to see all her DH's friends in their uniforms...

can I come too? I like looking at men in uniforms(dh might mind though)...

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yay! I'm going to Gritty's house!

And i get to see all her DH's friends in their uniforms...

can I come too? I like looking at men in uniforms(dh might mind though)...

Would you girls behave! I think they're all married, but there is this one deputy......

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Quote:

It snowed here today, too.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
No! No! NO! You're in the South. General Lee, Georgia's very own groundhog, says winter is O-V-E-R!!!!

 

[froggie71]

\\voted 6 more weeks, but I cheated. I saw that was his prediction.

 

[herefordlovinglady]

straight from twitter

RT @JeffDauler: RT @q100wendy: Georgia Groundhog Gen. Beauregard Lee did not see his shadow! Bring on the Spring!


Metro Atlanta / State News 9:53 a.m. Tuesday, February 2, 2010



Reluctant Georgia groundhog predicts early spring


By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

On a rainy Groundhog Day reminiscent of the September floods that nearly swept away his Gwinnett County home, a slightly wounded and very reluctant Gen. Beauregard Lee declared that spring is just around the corner.

About 80 people turned up in Lilburn to see the groundhog.
Gen. Beauregard Lee comes out of his house Tuesday.

After hiding from his handlers at the Yellow River Game Ranch, then trying to climb the fence surrounding his plantation-style home, Georgia's resident groundhog, sporting a skinned nose, finally emerged at 7:35 a.m. and failed to see his shadow.

According to lore, if the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. No shadow foreshadows an early spring.

Game ranch manager Codi Reeves wasn't sure how the General hurt his nose but said his staff had been treating the wound with Neosporin for about a week.

"They like to dig a lot and sometimes they hit a rock," Reeves said.

As for Beauregard's reluctance to fulfill his annual prognosticating duties, Reeves said, "you just never know how they're going to react. Sometimes they don't want to be bothered too much and he was a little camera shy this morning."

Last September, the game ranch was threatened by the Yellow River's rising water during the state's historic floods. But Beau's home on a hill at the game ranch, "Weathering Heights," kept him high and dry and out of harm's way.

Forecasters weren't predicting any flooding from Tuesday morning's rain, but another round of rain later in the week could push creeks to near flood stage, the National Weather Service said.

"Periods of heavy rain will be possible Thursday into Friday, with the heaviest rain expected on Thursday night," the Weather Service said. "Widespread rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches are expected, with isolated higher amounts possible.

The forecast for metro Atlanta calls for sunny skies on Wednesday, with highs in the mid-50s and lows in the low to mid-30s.

The chance of rain is 80 percent Thursday, 90 percent Thursday night and 80 percent on Friday. Highs will be in the mid- to upper 40s, with lows in the mid-30s.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

General Lee better be right! My fruit trees are trying their hardest to bud!!! I am SO ready for Spring!

Rusty

 

[jojo54]

Canada is split on winter issues. Sounds like we have spring coming out here.

According to the article in the Calgary Herald:

Alberta's Balzac Billy disagrees with Ontario's Wiarton Willie about 6 more weeks of winter

Canada's most famous groundhog, Wiarton Willie, was also spooked by his shadow Tuesday morning as he emerged from his Bruce County, Ont., burrow. And Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam also concurred. Sam, who calls Shubenacadie Provincial Wildlife Park home, was the first of the furry forecasters Tuesday to weigh in on the weather.


Six more weeks of winter would be great news for snow-starved Vancouver Olympic organizers who have been crossing their fingers for some of the white stuff. However, Alberta's Balzac Billy had another idea in mind. The mammal meteorologist predicted an early spring — contradicting his eastern peers.


http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/B...ie+about+more+weeks+winter/2512317/story.html

 

[StupidBird]

Was General Lee right last year when we had the late freeze, as usual? Or do those April snow/ice things that happen not count?
PS - I didn't think about the floods there on the Yellow River; most of the park is very low! I wouldn't want to be the one to evacuate all those mountain lions. I'm glad they were ok.

 

[PineappleMama]

Looks like Billy is my new friend!

Edit... what about squirrels? The last couple/few weeks the treerats around here have been going nuts (pardon the pun)... chasing each other all over the place, driving the dogs nuts of course. Isn't that chasing stuff part of the mating dance? Also caught one/two in what looks like nesting behavior. They were getting twigs and paper and carting it off... can't imagine them doing that for food, so I reckoned it was for a nest? If those are mating/nesting behaviors doesn't that indicate that spring is en route? Or, are squirrels just insane?