For the past five years, a groundhog named Phil and his less-famous partner, Phyllis, have flourished in the daily care of A.J. Dereume, a roofing contractor and a member of the “inner circle” of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
On Wednesday, Phil will cuddle into the arms of his personal handler, who will carry him to the top of a windswept hill known as Gobbler’s Knob. Mr. Dereume will hoist Punxsutawney Phil into the air around sunrise for the applause and acclaim of thousands of people who attend Groundhog Day festivities every Feb. 2.
Well, not quite every year. People were not allowed to assemble and party in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I brought Phil out for an audience of one camera crew,” Mr. Dereume said, sounding wistful in a telephone interview. So that makes Groundhog Day 2022 somewhat special for the furry rodent, club members and the 5,700 residents of the Jefferson County borough 84 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
Others have been coming to Punxsutawney almost since the tradition began in 1887. Legend holds that if Phil sees his shadow — and he usually does — there will be six more weeks of winter. The number of spectators has reached nearly 20,000 some years since 1993, when the movie “Groundhog Day” was released, club president Jeff Lundy said.
But not everyone loves Groundhog Day.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says it’s time to “retire” Phil and Phyllis “to a reputable sanctuary.” In a Jan. 25 letter sent to the Groundhog Club and released to Pennsylvania media, PETA claimed that it is “abuse of live animals” to subject Phil to “noisy crowds, bright lights and near-constant confinement in a library basement.”
To replace Phil, PETA offered to send a persimmon tree to Punxsutawney. PETA didn’t explain how a persimmon can predict winter weather, but the Old Farmer’s Almanac says you must cut open a seed from the fruit. According to folklore, you can expect lots of snow to shovel if the kernel is spoon-shaped, frigid winds if it looks like a knife and a mild winter with powdery light snow if the kernel is shaped like a fork.
PETA, which claims to have over 9 million members, has also offered to send the club “a state-of-the-art animatronic groundhog with artificial intelligence that could accurately predict the weather.”
The animal rights group did not receive the response it wanted from the Groundhog Club, so on Thursday PETA announced a protest in Punxsutawney at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, the day before Groundhog Day. PETA’s Facebook event page is called Pennsylvania: Protest for Punxsutawney Phil’s Freedom!
Phil’s “phriends” remain “unphazed.”
“We regularly get letters from PETA,” Mr. Dereume said. “I’m just sorry to hear that people have a problem with animals that are well cared for and happy and loved.”
“We all feel perfectly comfortable with the way Phil is handled,” said Mr. Lundy, the club’s president and a lawyer.
Phil and Phyllis live in a “certified zoo” that is licensed and inspected by the Pennsylvania and U.S. departments of agriculture, he said.
“Bananas are Phil’s favorite food,” Mr. Lundy said, adding that the groundhogs are also fed carrots, greens and lettuce. For a special treat, they get granola bars.
At least $40 per week is spent on fresh produce for the groundhogs, Mr. Dereume said. And they also have a constant supply of dry kibble food formulated for rabbits.
“They like to have something to crunch on,” he said.
Mr. Dereume is Phil’s favorite person, says Mr. Lundy, who likes to think he’s No. 2 on Phil’s list. The groundhog doesn’t just tolerate the attention and handling, they say; he seems to enjoy it, especially when his ears are rubbed.
“He’s sort of like a cat,” Mr. Lundy said. “He likes to be rubbed — until he doesn’t. And he will let you know when he’s had enough.”
Phil has a full year-round calendar, making free visits to schools and local nonprofit groups. He’s available every other Sunday for photo shoots.
“You can’t hold him, but you can have your picture taken with him,” Mr. Lundy said.
You don’t have to wait for Groundhog Day to see Phil and Phyllis. The groundhogs’ enclosure at the local library has big windows to allow visitors to observe them. There are burrows to give the groundhogs a private place to sleep.
“The windows might be one of the reasons that in all these years we have never had any baby Phils,” Mr. Dereume said, adding that the animals get along and often sleep together, but they don’t breed.
While club members are happy to share facts about the groundhogs, there is some fictional lore they stand by. They insist Phil is 136 years old, but his mate is much younger. They admit there has been a succession of Phyllises. Groundhogs’ lifespan is 7-14 years.
They explain Phil’s longevity by saying he ingests a “secret elixir” every fall that extends his life by another seven years. Its ingredients include distilled Arctic ice and the tears of a ruffed grouse, they say with straight faces. The elixir has not worked on Phyllis or Groundhog Club members who have tried it, they say.
For more information on Groundhog Day, go to groundhog.org. All of the indoor events are sold out, but anyone can come to Phil’s winter weather reveal on Wednesday. Admission is free; a roundtrip bus ticket from downtown Punxsutawney and two other area locations to go directly to Gobbler’s Knob from 3 a.m. until 6:30 a.m. is $5.
Linda Wilson Fuoco: lfluoco@post-gazette.com or at PG Pets on Facebook.
First Published: January 28, 2022, 11:00 a.m.
Updated: January 28, 2022, 11:04 a.m.
