PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (WTAJ) — For the first time in 138 years, Punxsutawney Phil and his wife, Phyllis, have started a family.
The world-famous groundhog is now the father of two healthy babies born Saturday. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club made the announcement in a Facebook post on Wednesday but did not specify their sex or give their names.
Phil emerges from his burrow each year the morning of Feb. 2. If he sees his shadow, tradition holds, there will be six more weeks of winter. This year, he did not see his shadow, heralding an early spring.
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle President Thomas Dunkel gave Nexstar’s WTAJ an exclusive first look at the woodchuck pups.
Just like his weather prediction on Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil kept this surprise a secret. Dunkel said Phil and Phyllis didn’t let them know that they were expecting and that it was a total surprise for everyone.
“We did not think that this would happen in captivity because it never has. But apparently, we were wrong,” Dunkel explained.
Outside of his usual spot at Gobblers Knob on Groundhog Day, Phil and Phyllis have lived and been cared for at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library in their climate-controlled burrow, which has a window where library patrons can look inside.
Dunkel said a Groundhog Club member discovered the little groundhogs when he went to feed them fresh fruits and vegetables.
“I talked to Phil with the use of my cane that lets me speak Groundhogese, and Phil could not be more excited to have started a family,” Dunkel said.
An expanding family calls for an expanded burrow. The Groundhog Club is now working to move Phil and his family to a new home in the heart of Gobbler’s Knob.
“Now we have a place for Phil’s family to enjoy a brand new zoo up at Gobbler’s Knob. So it’s going to be great. We’re pleased and so is Phil,” Dunkel said.
The groundhog is a member of the squirrel family and related to chipmunks and prairie dogs. It’s also known as a woodchuck, a whistle pig — or in the parlance of Pennsylvania Dutch, a language with German roots, a “grundsau.”
Groundhogs are herbivores, and their lifespan in the wild is typically two or three years.
Like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, Punxsutawney Phil comes with his own mythology, including the claim that he will live forever due to imbibing some magic juice called “The Elixir Of Life.” (His wife is not allowed to partake of the elixir, and thus, is not immortal.)
Given that the annual Groundhog Day ritual has been performed since 1887, that would place Phil in his late 130s.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club previously said that Phil has never had any children – that is, until now. Dunkel explained that the groundhog pups will not inherit the Seer of Seers legacy because there will always be only one immortal Punxsutawney Phil.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
