When I was a kid I used to think that there was a real groundhog, of course named Phil. In PA. I thought there was a ritual to find his shadow.. but pretty different than the actual one they do. I had this mental picture of a crowd of people around a groundhog pen, being oh so quiet as to not disturb, precious Phil. Then as the groundhog emmerges from his burrow… they wait silently, the anticipation is intense. After a minute or two the Overgrown Muskrat sniffs the Earth, sniffs the air… never seeing the crowd of people somehow. And then he if he sees his shadow he scurries back beneath the earth, but if he doesn’t - the crowd roars. And they they make merriment and such as crowds of people often do in February in PA. Hey, they’ve got so many towns named after sexual frustration it’s not even funny.. you’d make “merriment” too.