"As I look around me, a bright sky I see, and a shadow beside me. Six more weeks of winter it will be!" - This was the prediction from "Punxsutawney Phil", the legendary groundhog on February 2nd, the official Groundhog Day.

Thousands of people gathered in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to watch officials pull "Punxsutawney Phil" out of his burrow and see if he could see his shadow.

According to ancient legend, seeing his own shadow scares him back into his hole, extending winter by another six weeks. If he doesn't go back, spring is around the corner.

While a typical groundhog lives for only 6-8 years, Punxsutawney Phil is 122 years old, thanks to a magic potion he drinks every summer, that helps extend his life for an additional seven years. In the last 110 years, Phil has seen his shadow 97 times and not seen it only 14 times. There are no records of the first twelve years.

Meanwhile, an impostor groundhog, lured out of the ground by New York's Mayor Bloomberg did not see his shadow, but was so upset at being dragged out, that he bit the mayor's finger - No one knows what that means.

Groundhog Day is an age-old tradition that was introduced to the US by German Settlers. Known as Candlemas in Germany, the settlers used either a hedgehog or badger to try predict the length of the winter.

Groundhogs, which are also called Woodchucks, Land Beavers or Whistlepigs, are related to the squirrel. Typically measuring between 17-26 inches in length , they weigh between 2-4lbs are largely herbivorous.

Whether or not "Phil" is a good predictor of the weather, he does attract a lot of people, who gather to watch and cheer him every year, on Groundhog day.

Source:Examiner.com, groundhog.org