Murray - Not Bill Murray, But His Namesake - to Make Groundhog Day Prediction

Woodchuck Woody, whose Groundhog Day predictions are reportedly more accurate than the significantly more famous Punxsutawney Phil’s, is feeling under the weather. Her understudy, Murray, will step in for this year’s celebration at the Howell Conference and Nature Center. (Photos courtesy of Howell Conference and Nature Center)

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A groundhog in waiting is about to get her big chance at fame Monday.

Woodchuck Woody, who reigns as Michigan’s Official Groundhog and unofficial arbiter of the winter calendar, is feeling a bit poorly, so her understudy, Murray, will step in for Monday’s Groundhog Day ceremonies at the Howell Conference and Nature Center, the Livingston Daily Press & Argus reports.

Murray is named, of course, after actor and comedian Bill Murray, who plays a weatherman living the same day over and over and over again in the cult movie classic “Groundhog Day.”

Woody, who has been suffering some respiratory issues, is expected to make a full recovery, but “we didn’t want to risk it this year,” said April Gasbarre, a spokeswoman for the Nature Center.

Woody has had the lead role in the ceremonies since 1999, and – bury your head in a hibernation den over this, Pennsylvania – her record bests Punxsutawney Phil’s in terms of accuracy. Woody has been correct in a dozen of her 16 predictions.

Young Murray, at only 8 months, will make her prediction at 8:15 a.m. Monday. The ceremonies begin at 7:45 a.m. at the Nature Center, located at 1005 Triangle Lake Road in Marion Township.

According to legend, six more weeks of winter will follow if Murray sees her shadow. If not, spring is just around the corner.

The centuries-old tradition is a gift of German settlers who arrived in America in the 1700s, according to Stormfax.com, and is originally rooted in the Candlemas Day tradition, observed at the midpoint of the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox.

Superstition held that if the weather was fair, the second half of the winter would be stormy and cold.

The earliest reference to Groundhog Day in America is found in a Feb. 4, 1841, excerpt from a Pennsylvania storekeeper’s diary, currently part of the collection at the Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College:

“Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.”

Whether Murray will see her shadow is a toss-up at this point. The National Weather Service says it will be partly sunny, with a high near 15. Snow is likely.

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