Adorable baby groundhogs are too busy to look for their shadow

These groundhogs are the cutest things ever as they happily munch away on their apples. A litter of three pups is a serious handful, even for a dedicated mother like theirs. Their furry little faces resemble stuffed childrens' toys, especially as they peer closely into the camera. What they don't realize is that in a few days they will have a very important job to do. All of the USA and Canada will be watching to see if they predict an early spring, or six more weeks of winter. It's that age-old, high pressure position of predicting the weather.

Every February 2nd the groundhog will emerge from its burrow to peek around at the world outside. If it sees its shadow, it will flee back down into its burrow and have a 6 week snooze that will leave the continent at the mercy of the winter cold for those extra 6 weeks.

If the sky is overcast, there will be no shadow and the groundhog will not be startled back into the burrow. We will be blessed with an early spring.

Famous groundhogs such as Punxsatawney Phil in Pennsylvania and Wiarton Willie in Ontario, Canada, have been predicting the weather since 1886. This has been a tradition ever since those early days, and the legend and traditions have spread so far and wide that clubs have formed, celebrating February 2nd in crowds as large as 40,000 people. Originating in German speaking settlements of North America, the earliest forecasting animal was actually the badger.

The groundhog tradition inspired the 1993 world famous Hollywood movie named Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. Many cities in the USA and Canada have named their own groundhogs and started their own ceremonies.

Despite all of the hype and the festivities surrounding this popular weather predictor, scientists and meteorologists have found no consistent correlation between our weather and the habits of these adorable rodents. Even though few people would truly believe that an lovable furry rodent seeing his shadow is an accurate way to forecast the weather, the fun and festivities that surround this age old folklore make it a big event that is national news every year.