Illinois Has Better Groundhogs Than Punxsutawney Phil

Here we are again, Groundhog Day and all media eyes are on Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania. For years, I’ve expressed that Phil is a fine performer for that region of the country, but he really has no idea about this part of the United States. He doesn’t care, and why should he?

This solid groundhog seeks shade denying his shadow to usher in spring.

When I started working in media, I created a local version of Phil for the markets I worked and lived. "Slappy", "Hal", "Quincy", and "Ken". A local fuzzy prognosticating participant makes the day more connected. Phil seems to declare a pre-chosen outcome at the break of dawn in rural Pennsylvania each year. A more accurate accounting of morning clouds and sunshine applied locally each year tends to speak more truthfully to a local/regional audience than a marmot in the Keystone State.

For most of the nation, Punxsutawney Phil is fake news.

Turns out, I wasn’t alone. There are versions of Phil all across the country. 35 states, and the District of Columbia have had their own weather groundhog over the last handful of years. Most Canadian provinces have one, and for whatever reason, Norway too…???

Groundhogs can be found all across the United States

In Illinois there are several to choose from. The state of Illinois covers a large area north to south. Chicago has “Harry”, who appears at Harry Carey’s on Navy Pier. West Dundee has “Cedar”, who lives at the Randall Oaks Zoo. Alton had “Murray”, who lived at the Treehouse Wildlife Center in nearby Dow, Illinois. "Gertie" the Groundhog makes her predictions from Wildlife Prairie Park in Hanna City, Illinois, west of Peoria. Then there is "Woodstock Willie", a direct descendant of the groundhog from the classic film “Groundhog Day”. That movie was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois.

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Punxsutawney Phil can have Pennsylvania. Throw in Western New York and Northeastern Ohio, that’s fine. You get this far west, whatever Phil is told to say mostly doesn’t match what it looks like around here. Like most news stories, stick with the local reporters. They tend to have more connections to the situation where you are. Whether it’s Illinois, Missouri, or Norway. Norway? Your local groundhog is a better representation of this “Groundhogiday” (I just made that word up) than Phil.