MARION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Handlers of Woody the Woodchuck, billed as Michigan’s official groundhog, say she’s predicting six more weeks of winter.
They say if she emerges from her house at the Howell Conference and Nature Center and stays out for 30 seconds or longer she is indicating an early spring; if she doesn’t come out or runs back into her house before the 30 seconds are up, she is forecasting six more weeks of winter.
On Thursday, which is Groundhog Day, she didn’t come out of her house during an event at the nature center in Livingston County’s Marion Township. Dozens of people turned out to watch the not-so-scientific forecast.
The prediction of six more weeks of winter matched that from handlers of Pennsylvania’s most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil.