#fred la marmotte

[thegirlwholied]

tonight I got a text from my friend about the groundhog's prediction, boo more winter-

also "at least he was not dead like the one from Canada"

[hopepunk-priest]

*Canadian voice* I know that when the groundhog comes out and gets scared of his own shadow that there'll be 6 more weeks of winter but what's it mean if the groundhog fucking dies?? Fuckin six more weeks of winter and then the planet's core just falls out its own ass? I mean I never read Dante's Inferno but I'm pretty sure the final circle of hell is marked by a groundhog just up and having a stroke.

Saw a journalist being clever saying Fred's death "casts a shadow" on groundhog day but I think the signalling of the end times is a bad opportunity to make clever wordplay. They were talking about him like he was a person too. Took over for his father, served nine years, had an 80% success rate, no one's talking about how he died the night a once-every-50k-years green comet passed us by and I'm not saying that's some biblical shit bud but what are the chances.

[plasticheadband]

i looked up an article on groundhog day today because i wanted to see what punxsutawney phil had predicted and, halfway down the article, was greeted with the subheading: "quebec replaces groundhog... with a child" and something abt the whole situation has me on the verge of tears. i don't know whether it's that they found fred la marmotte dead when they went to wake him up this morning (which means that they must usually leave fred all winter and only bother him right before it's time for his big day), or that they took a child in a groundhog hat from the crowd and gave them a stuffie groundhog and let the kid make the weather prediction, but it's so bittersweet ? and altogether too much emotion for groundhog day

[cosmosinmycoffee]

Y’all weren’t gonna tell me that Fred the groundhog died???? I gotta learn everything myself??

RIP Fred

[naiadic]

Honestly losing my shit over the fact Canada's Groundhog, Fred, fucking DIED before he could make his prediction. Motherfucker saw the shadow of DEATH

[super-oddity]

sir is not happy with punxsutawney phil’s prediction

[rosewind2007]

“He was a least 14-years-old; that’s pretty old for a groundhog,”

[taamlok]

seasonal depression cured, shout out to my boy wiarton willie for the early spring prediction

[spockvarietyhour]

Groundhog Predictive Success Rate

[mutant-distraction]

Beloved Canadian groundhog Fred la

marmotte found dead hours before

Groundhog Day.

Spring is canceled.

[grunge-mermaid]

oh shit it's groundhog day

I'm guessing the new Fred la Marmotte didn't die suddenly again

[porterdavis]

tl;dr -- spring will be late

[murshili-ii]

Groundhog Day special: A Look Outside

~ ~

In continuation of the Spring Vignettes series of seasonal minimalist digital art pieces, I present our second piece, in honor of Groundhog Day, or Candlemas, on February 2nd.

Before I explain what the piece means to me, please tell me what it means to _you_. I’m just the artist; you’re the beholder. The art exists in your eyes. I want to know what I’ve accomplished.

Leave a comment.

~ ~

Groundhogs (Marmota monax), also known as woodchucks or Canada marmots, are large ground-squirrels common in North America. During the winter, they go into hibernation in the shelter of their burrows; true hibernation, unlike the torpor of a bear.

In the United States, folk custom has it that on the 2nd of February, a groundhog comes out of his hole for a peek; and if he sees his shadow, he returns to continue his slumber, concluding that winter will continue for another six weeks; whereas if he casts no visible shadow, he will emerge, concluding that spring has arrived.

This folk-saying was probably introduced to North America by Pennsylvania Dutch settlers (actually Germans, who refer to themselves in German as “deutsch”), who adapted it from a similar saying in Germany concerning badgers. In German, “Lichtmeßwoche” (“Candlemas-week”) rhymes with “Loche” (“hole”).

In recent times, one particular groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, has attained great fame as a meteorologist on account of this rumor; and he allegedly conveys predictions to his top-hatted handlers as part of a public ceremony, which are then interpreted into English and announced.

Personally, I think the tophat would look more fetching on the groundhog.

Other famous groundhogs have taken on similar roles as local prognosticators, such as Fred la Marmotte, a Québécois groundhog who also releases predictions every February 2nd.

On a cold early-spring morning, I have no doubt that any groundhog would greatly appreciate a four-paned glass window, and a steaming hot cup of tea, if he could obtain them.

(You can think of it as a cup of espresso if you want; again, I’m just the artist.) The bird outside is an American robin (Turdus migratorius); a migratory bird that winters in the south, the first sighting of which is said to be a herald of spring in the north.

[glorioustidalwavedefendor]

What the heck is that supposed to mean?

This was the last winter with snow we ever got?

There will be an ice age?

End of days?

Like ... meterology is aleady hard enough without criptic messages ...

[hikelesbian]

The Quebec rodent whose job it was to predict whether spring would arrive early, Fred la Marmotte, died the day before Groundhog Day.

this is the most quebecois thing ever. 

[plaguedoctorraven]

Thinking about last year's Groundhog day when Québec's groundhog, Fred la Marmotte, died the day before and the organizer solemnly went up on stage besides someone in a groundhog costume and said to a bunch of small children, "In life, there is a saying: only one thing is certain, which is that nothing is certain. I'm announcing the death of Fred," to audible dismay.