Arming,
BURancastsr
World Awaits Groundhog's Winter Forecast On Feb. 2
GAY N. BROWNLEE
Somerset Co. Correspondent
Most kids have heard about
Groundhog Day on February 2
each year. That’s the day every
body waits tq see if the groundhog
will see his shadow. Of course, to
see a shadow the sun must first be
shining.
If he sees his shadow, it means
there will be six more weeks of
winter weather and he will return
to his underground hibernation to
wait it out. If he doesn’t see his
shadow, then spring should be just
around the comer.
Punxsutawncy, Pa., in Jefferson
Co. is the home of the world’s
most famous groundhog. His
name is “Punxsutawncy Phil.” He
lives at a place called “Gobblers
Knob.”
Each year on Feb. 2, very early
in the morning crowds of specta
tors and newspeople head for
Gobblers Knob to see what Phil’s
forecast will be. At 5:30 in the
morning, folks can ride shuttle
buses to the scene of action. Later
they hold their breath while the
president of the Punxsutawney
Groundhog Club (this year. Bud
Dunkel) uses the sumbolic acacia
cane to tap on the door of Punxsu
tawney Phil’s cozy, undisturbed
burrow.
Then, it’s my guess that Phil
probably does a few good stretch
es after his long winter’s nap,
yawns hugely and finally pokes
his head out of the ground. Seeing
the cause of commotion, the aging
aardvark no doubt says to himself,
“Well, fresh grass and greens! Can
it be Groundhog’s Day again so
soon? Seems like I just laid down
minutes ago.”
Then casting a wise eye over
the crowd, he plays his part bril
liantly, because he knows (secret
ly, of course) that the humans ex
pect it.
This groundhog is so special
and respected in Punxsutawncy
that his titles are many. He is the
Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of
Prognosticators, Fearless Forecas
ter and Unparalleled Weather Pro
phet. (Check your dictionary to
leant these definitions.)
Other woodchucks have tried to
outshine Phil but there is just one
true Phil, said officials. In fact, of
ficials don’t hesitate to dismiss the
others as being imposters, pre
tenders, fakers and johnny-come
latelys, who are attempting to ride
Punxsutawncy Phil’s glory trail.
Only Phil is the accurate weather
forecaster on Feb. 2, they said.
Punxsutawncy, is said to be the
I. Saturday, January a, i9W~
largest community in Jefferson
Co. in western-central Pennsylva
nia. Its population is approximate
ly 8,000 persons. The earliest in
habitants there were Indians, start
ing with the Alligewi. When they
migrated south, the Delaware and
Iroquois soon arrived.
In 1849 the town officially be
came a borough. Nearly 40 years
later, on Feb. 2,1887, the first of
ficial trip was made to Gobblers
Knob. Since then folks have lis
tened each year for the weather
word from Punxsutawncy Phil on
Feb. 2. 1994 is the 107lh Ground
hog Day anniversary.
Celebrations in Punxsutawncy
continue throughout Groundhog
Day beginning with the trek to
Gobblers Knob. Then everybody
is invited to a big breakfast. All
kinds of fun things happen during
Groundhog Day. Groundhog sou
venirs can be found everywhere.
The Groundhog Banquet is held
in the evening. A Groundhog King
And Queen are crowned at the lo
cal high school before the
Groundhog Hop teen dance be
gins.
Foreign exchange students, rep
resenting many countries, attend
the festivities and arc treated like
celebrities.
During the week of July 4,
Punxsulawneyitcs go “groundhog
wild” for seven days with the
Punxsutawney Groundhog Festi
val. There arc races, cook-offs,
card shows, cycling, puppet
shows, petting zoo, circus, and
concerts.
There’s the Child Evangelism
Storyhousc, museum, clowns,
Friendly Purple Dinosaur and hula
hoop contest. That still leaves
scads more things to see and do.
So it might be fun to check the
location on the map or road atlas
and plan to visit Punxsutawncy.
It’s located 18 miles south of In
terstate 1-80, about midway be
tween the towns of Dußois and In
diana.
Set the mood for Groundhog
Day by whipping up something
really groundhoggish. For in
stance, Groundhog Sundaes made
with Chocolate Sauce and Spicy
Groundhogs. Here’s how.
GROUNDHOG SUNDAES
1 quart vanilla ice cream cut in
slices
Groundhog cookies
Chocolate Sauce
Place groundhog cookie on cen
ter of ice cream slice.
Drizzle chocolate sauce across
ice cream and plate to suggest a
shadow.
SPICY GROUNDHOGS
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
A teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
'A cup soft butler
A cup molasses
1 egg yolk
1 slightly beaten egg
Currants or raisins
Sift together flour, salt, soda,
baking powder and spices. Set
aside. Cream butter and sugar un-
A Look
DONALD SMITH
National Geographic
News Service
WASHINGTON. D.C. An
adult male can outweigh 10 ele
phants and would be able to see
over a six-story building if it stood
on its tail.
Its massive forehead contains
an exceedingly fine oil, mistaken
by early whalers as sperm, that
was once used to lubricate Soviet
space vehicles.
The sperm whale, relentlessly
hunted in the 19th century for its
oil, still roams all of Earth’s
oceans, its numbers now esti
mated at 1 million.
But little is known about the
behavior of these strange, elusive
animals, which can dive more than
2 miles: how distant tribes relate
to each other, or the purpose of the
peculiar clicking sounds they
make.
A family of scientists, including
their two small children, are mid
way through a yearlong voyage in
a 41-foot sailboat to revisit the
19th-century Yankee whaling
grounds in the South Pacific and
explore the family secrets of the
whales.
“We will examine the geogra
phical variation in genetic struc
ture and vocalization repertoire of
the sperm whales of the South
Pacific,” says marine biologist
Hal Whitehead of Nova Scotia’s
Dalhousie University.
“Most of the people who have
studied sperm whales have chosen
areas near islands where it gets
deep very quickly, such as the
Galapagos,” says Peter L. Tyack
of the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution. “But sperm whales are
basically deep-sea animals, and
the best place to study them is in
the deep sea.”
til fluffy* Blend in molasses and
egg yolk. Stir in Hour mixture and
mix well.
Form dough into a ball, wrap in
plastic wrap or wax paper. Chill
one hour or longer. Roll out small
amount on a sugar sprinkled board
to V* -inch thickness. Cut out
cookies with a lightly floured cut
ter. Place cookies on greased
cookie sheet and brush with
slightly beaten egg. Decorate
cookie with the fruit for eyes, but
tons and so forth. Bake at 350 de
grees for 8-10 minutes. Cool
slightly. Recipe makes 12 to IS
large groundhogs or 3 to 4 dozen
At Sperm
Whitehead and his wife, fellow
marine biologist Linda Susan
Weilgart, sailed down the coast of
South America, then headed into
the open South Pacific through
French Polynesia, American
Samoa and other islands. After a
stopover in New Zealand, they
will sail back to the southern tip of
Chile and cruise up the South
American coast, returning to Nova
Scotia in the spring.
Aboard their custom-built
research cutter, Baiaena, they are
accompanied by their son, Benja
min, 5; 14-month-old daughter,
Stefanie; graduate student Natha
lie Jaquet and a nanny.
The sperm whale became an
American cultural icon through
Herman Melville’s classic, “Moby
Dick.” Melville described the ani
mal, which belongs to a family of
toothed whales, as “the most for
midable of all whales to encount
er, the most majestic in aspect”
Because of its famed evasive
ness, Melville’s 1851 description
of the whale is still largely true:
“Far above all other hunted
whales, his is an unwritten life.”
All commercial whale hunting
has been banned under a 1986
international agreement But some
whales still are being killed for
scientific purposes. Critics have
accused Japan, Iceland and Nor
way of violating the ban by killing
excessive numbers under the guise
of research.
Whitehead, whose work is sup
ported partly by the National Geo
graphic Society, is a pioneer of
“benign research” techniques,
designed to spare the lives of
whales and to interfere as little as
possible with their behavior.
Having the largest brain of any
living creature, sperm whales, like
humans, use a remarkably com
plex range of vocalizations.
small ones.
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
4 ounces unsweetened choco
late
'/i cup butter
'/« teaspoon salt
2 cups sifted confectioners’
sugar
'A cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla.
Melt chocolate and butter in the
top of a double boiler over sim
mering water. Remove from heat
and stir in sugar, salt, milk, and
vanilla. Beat until smooth. Serve
warm. Yields two cups of sauce.
Whales
Also like humans, whale
parents care for their young for
long periods. Adult whales cuddle
their calves and each other
by mouthing with their jaws, as
though kissing.
Scientists have speculated that
the clicking patterns of sperm
whales, called codas, may be
forms of communication, or mat
ing calls, or a kind of sonar used to
locate objects in the water —or all
three.
It’s even been suggested that
the sounds may be used to stun
prey, which could account for how
the leviathans catch their dinners
of fast-moving fish and squid.
One mystery is whether all
sperm whales throughout the
world share a common language
of codas, or whether distant
groups have different vocabula
ries. If the latter is true, research
ers postulate that contact between
groups would be limited, and this
would be reflected by marked
genetic differences among the var
ious populations.
Whitehead is collecting
sloughed skin samples of whales
for analysis of mitochondrial and
nuclear DNA, to find out if there
are major variations.
Renowned among fellow whale
researchers for his seamanship
and ability to handle disasters,
Whitehead has so far reported
smooth sailing.
“The kids are loving it,” says
Dalhousie graduate student Mary
Dillon, who talks to Whitehead
periodically by radiotelephone
from Nova Scotia. “The 5-year
old has seen all kinds of dolphins
and manta rays, and he’s been fit
the water snorkel ing, having a
great time.”
As for the toddler, Dillion
reports: “She’ll actually be learn
ing to walk on a boat.”