Friday, February 2, 2007

Happy HEDGEHOG Day!!!!!!!!!!



Razzle's cousins, the European hedgehog

Will Razzle see his shadow today? Stay tuned to find out!

Update: Razzle DID NOT see his shadow today which, according to folklore, predicts an early Spring! YAY! Of course, Razzle did not see his shadow because he is sleeping in his igloo. Does that count?



In the popular media are often found references to Hedgehog Day. It is said to be a precursor to Groundhog Day, a minor holiday in North America on the second of February. On that day, groundhogs are said to emerge from their burrows. It is claimed that, if they see their shadows, they return to their burrows and six more weeks of winter are to be expected. According to the history page of groundhog.org, the groundhog day tradition is a transformation of a European—presumably German—tradition, which relied not on groundhogs, but on hedgehogs. German immigrants to North America, finding no hedgehogs in their new land, substituted groundhogs. Tracing the tradition further into the European past, groundhog.org claims:

The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, supposedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather.

2 comments:

Candi said...

Woo! No shadow! Yay for Razzle! As much as I missed the snow, I'm looking forward to spring already! Lol!

I like the wild hedgehogs! I'm so used to seeing the African Pygmy ones that those look so strange! (I think Razzle is WAY cuter!!! Lol!)

Candi said...

Oops! Did I spell Pygmy wrong? Sorry, Razzle! Don't bite me!