Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather-forecasting groundhog, and his partner, Phyllis, welcomed two new additions to their family this spring.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, the group responsible for Phil’s care and the annual Groundhog Day celebration, chose Mother’s Day to announce the names of the two kits: Sunny, a female, and Shadow, a male.
The names were carefully selected and may even help Phil predict when spring will begin in the future.
Each year on Groundhog Day, Phil emerges from his burrow to make a prediction about the length of the remaining winter. According to tradition, if he sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of cold weather. However, if he doesn’t see his shadow, it’s believed that spring will arrive early. This year, Phil did not see his shadow, thus predicting an early spring.
Despite the excitement surrounding the new arrivals, Dan McGinley, vice president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, clarified that Sunny and Shadow are not meant to replace Phil or become the heir apparent. “It’s still Phil’s job,” McGinley stated in a phone interview. “There’s still only one Punxsutawney Phil.”
The club received hundreds of name suggestions for the pups, but the final decision was made after a private meeting between Phil and the club’s president, Tom Dunkel. The announcement of the names was made through a video posted on social media, with McGinley reading from a scroll that declared the babies were “born to royalty.”
The groundhog family, including the new kits, resides in a climate-controlled burrow at the local library.
The babies were discovered in March by a club member who was feeding fruit and vegetables to Phil and Phyllis.
As the groundhog family grows, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle remains committed to maintaining the beloved tradition of Groundhog Day and ensuring that Phil continues to be the sole prognosticator of the arrival of spring.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.