10 Reasons Cats won’t replace the Groundhog on February 2

Can you imagine your cat replacing the Groundhog’s weather predictions on February 2? While it’s humorous to think of the possibilities, it’s probably not going to happen.

The Groundhog has become the official weather predictor on this special day. It is believed Groundhog Day was adopted in the U.S. in 1887. Clymer H. Freas, then editor of the local paper Punxsutawney Spirit,promoted the town’s groundhog as the official “Groundhog Day meteorologist.

Both Canada and the United States, most prominently in Punxsutawney, PA. celebrate Ground Hog Day, brought here by German immigrants..

This year, the reported Prognosticator of Prognosticators, Punxsutawney Phil, will once again appear at sunrise on February 2 at Gobbler’s Knob in the Pennsylvania Wilds to make his annual prediction on the 131st Groundhog Day.

But what’s the big deal? Groundhog Day marks the half way point of winter. Technically 6 weeks from now, it will be the first day of Spring. Most years and this one in particular, we folks in New England and other northern locations can’t wait for Spring, that is unless we ski, snowmobile or embark in other outside winter activities. The cold, snow and ice is wearing on us. We at the Paws household are certainly sick and tired of shoveling and driving on slick ice-covered road.

Will the Groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil Sowerby,,the latest in a long time of Groundhog weather forecasters, really see his shadow? If t is cloudy when the  groundhog emerges to the surface, Spring will arrive early. If it is sunny, the groundhog will see his shadow and retreat back to his burrow for 6 more weeks, as Winter continues  until the first day of Spring.

As the days are getting a tad longer, we wonder:

• Will there be 6 more weeks of winter?
• Could the end of winter finally be in sight?

Just imagine if Punxsutawney Phil Sowerby weather predictions were replaced by those of Grumpy Cat, Garfield, Felix the Cat, or even the Paws household cats. We know one thing for sure. It would be quite a different type of celebration.

Would February 2 then become Cat Day rather than Groundhog Day? Rather than emerging from a burrow, the cat would wake from his slumber from a nice warm bed? Would he go outside or just take a glimpse out the window?

10 Reasons Cats won’t replace the Groundhog on February 2

While Punxsutawney Phil Sowerby gets a lot of attention – even a day named after him – here are 10 reasons my cats, and probably all cats,even the famous one, would not want to change places with him and become the official spokesperson for whether Winter is over or not.

1. While we cats can be patient, waiting for an hours on end to catch that certain mouse, we see no point of waiting around to find out if we see our shadow. Frankly, we could care less.
2. Braving the elements to prove what we already know to be true – Winter won’t end on February 2 so why go out into the rain, snow, sleet or cold to predict what we already know. No Way, we say! We don’t like to get wet,not even for a nice warm bath!
3. Even though the days are getting longer, it’s too darned cold. We know all to well the temperature dips to the coldest points right before the dawn.
4. Sleeping in is much preferable to getting up so early to see our shadow. This would interrupt our sleep time, something us kitties excel at.
5. While we like our humans, we aren’t too fond of large crowds. Keep your distance, and we know they’d all be all a twitter to find out if we saw our shadow or not.
6. As we don’t live in burrows, would we have to be crated to get to the designated spot where we’d tell the world whether Spring will arrive early. We don’t like our cat carriers much, and we like riding in cars even less.
7. Independence goes hand in hand with being a cat, and we really don’t like to conform to what people want us to do. Sticking around to see if we see our shadow seems silly to us, and something we probably just would not be willing to do.
8. Cats like tranquility and we’d get cat-ragious if someone doubted whether we were really telling the truth. Did that cat really see his shadow? Is he telling the truth? We’d say, Get over it.
9. Posing for the camera isn’t our thing. While we kitties don’t mind if our special humans commemorate us through endless photos and videos, we don’t want those news reporters in our faces, clicking endlessly to be sure they get just the right angle.
10. Staying put might be an issue if we haven’t been spay/neutered, and the half way point in winter is when the kitties start to get really frisky, creating lots more kittens, contributing to cat overpopulation, and all the issues that go with it.

Do you think your cat would like to replace Punxsutawney Phil Sowerby as the official spokesperson over whether Winter is over or not? How do you think your cats would react to all the Hoopla? Do you think that just perhaps Winter is half over, and there’s a glimmer of hope that Spring is on the way? We at the Paws household certainly do? Please weigh in on this fun discussion and share your thoughts.