Punxsutawney Phil and Phyllis welcome 2 baby groundhogs
PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (KDKA) -- Punxsutawney Phil has a new job to add to his resume. The famous weather-predicting groundhog is now a dad, apparently for the first time.
Phil and Phyllis welcomed two babies, the Groundhog Club Inner Circle announced on Facebook Wednesday.
"We have Babies!! The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club is very excited to announce that Phil and Phyllis have given birth to two healthy baby Groundhogs!" the Inner Circle wrote.
The babies are with mom and dad at the zoo in the Punxsutawney Memorial Library. According to the Inner Circle, it was a surprise for everyone.
"When we went in to feed them their fresh fruits and vegetables, we found Phyllis with two little baby groundhogs. It was very unexpected, we had no idea that she was pregnant," said Tom Dunkel, the president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club's Inner Circle.
In more than a century, Dunkel says they've never had a baby groundhog before, so it was a shock to the club but they're "stoked."
"Today I took my cane down to the borrow so I could talk with Phil," Dunkel said. "With that cane, I have the ability to speak Groundhogese. So I took the cane down today to talk with Phil for a little bit. He's besides himself. He's 138 years old and never had a child so he picked late in life to start a family."
Phyllis is resting and doing well. As for names, Dunkel says Phil hasn't decided yet.
"He says as soon as they figure that out he will let us know and then we will let the world know. It's fun and it's such good news and fun news in times when we are getting a lot of bad news so we are happy that this is unfolding for Phil and Phyllis," Dunkel said.
Phil can enjoy some downtime with his new family after his big prediction last month. According to legend, if Phil emerges from Gobbler's Knob on Feb. 2 and sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of winter, but if there is no shadow, we get an early spring. This year, he didn't see his shadow.
The Inner Circle maintains that only one groundhog named Phil has been predicting weather for more than 130 years and is accurate 100% of the time. The NOAA argues that Phil has only gotten it right about 30% of the time over the past 10 years.
Phil stays young by drinking the "elixir of life" every summer, which tacks seven years onto his lifespan. Phyllis, unfortunately, doesn't get any.
As for whether the babies will inherit their father's role, Dunkel says it doesn't work like that. There's one Santa Claus, one Easter Bunny and one Punxsutawney Phil.
Visitors can stop by and see Phil, Phyllis and the babies at the library. There's a viewing window outside. Punxsutawney is about an hour and a half from Pittsburgh.
