Nic Name • Feb 2, 2002 12:11 am
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, home of Punxsutawney Phil, who throws a big party every Groundhog Day at Gobbler's Knob. (Don't ask!)
Nic Name • Feb 2, 2002 1:30 pm
Canada's prognosticating groundhog, Wiarton Willie, died and is still dead ... long live Wiarton Willie!
The original Wiarton Willie, an albino groundhog said to be 22 years old, died during hibernation during the winter of 1998-99. The good burghers of Wiarton discovered this to their horror just before Groundhog Day 1999.
Willie's death made headlines around the world.
On Groundhog Day, they put Wiarton Willie face-up in a small pine casket, bright pennies over his eyes, paws clutching a raw carrot. But it was a fake! Turns out the real Wiarton Willie was so disgustingly decomposed he couldn't be put on display, so they found a stuffed facsimile and laid it in the casket.