JACKSON, Ga. — It’s Groundhog Day. Again.
While most eyes are on Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania, Gen. Beauregard “Beau” Lee is the go-to groundhog here in Georgia. The state also has a second prognosticator: Yonah the North Georgia Groundhog in Cleveland, Georgia.
Will it be six more weeks of winter or an early spring? Well, Lee saw his shadow, so he’s predicting more winter weather in Georgia.
But Yonah says not so fast. North Georgia Wildlife Park’s groundhog did not see his shadow, which means an early spring. Which groundhog’s prediction will come true? We’ll have to see.
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Lee was a celebrity groundhog for decades in Gwinnett County before he moved to Dauset Nature Trail in Jackson. What hasn’t changed is his pregame meal: Waffle House hashbrowns.
This year was Lee’s 45th prediction. Yonah is newer to the groundhog game with his first prediction in 2014.
Here are some other things to know about Groundhog Day:
First celebration: The first Groundhog Day was celebrated at Gobbler’s Knob on Feb. 2, 1887. According to History.com, the idea came from Clymer Freas, a newspaper editor in Punxsutawney, who belonged to a group of groundhog hunters. His newspaper, The Punxsutawney Spirit, is credited with printing the news of the first observance in 1886, according to the website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
Origins: The day was originally known as Candlemas Day, which was the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It was celebrated in Europe, with Germans adopting a hedgehog to determine whether the rest of the winter would be bitter or mild. German settlers who came to Pennsylvania in the 18th century continued the tradition, substituting a groundhog.
Other predictors: What other rodents predict the weather on Feb. 2? Birmingham Bill, who prognosticates from the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama; and Staten Island Chuck in the New York metropolitan area. Not to be outdone, Canada has its own rodent, Shubenacadie Sam, who emerges from his burrow in Nova Scotia.
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