On No, Chuckles! No More Winter!
Lutz Children's Museum
In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, they turn to Phil, but here in Connecticut, it's all up to Chuckles to tell us whether spring will soon be here or if we will have to deal with six more weeks of winter's wrath. Unfortunately, we have six weeks to go.
Our state's reigning rodent -- Molly -- saw her shadow.
Chuckles made her prediction this morning at the Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester.
Connecticut's queen of prognostication is 1 1/2 years old and is from a wildlife rehabilitator in Sherman, according to the Hartford Courant
Chuckles has had a bit of a troubled past, the Courant reports. She had been hit by a car and had a head injury, leaving her with permanent neurological damage, museum director Bob Eckert told the paper.
"Her balance might be a little off and she stares at you weird," Animal Curator Sarah Wilby told the Courant, "but her vision hasn't been affected."
Molly is Chuckles VII, and she took over for "Arnie," carrying on a long line for groundhogs to be relatively successful in their predictions.
Last year, Chuckles correctly guessed a longer winter.
Molly lives in a comfortable enclosure, that has a door with a star on it, according to the Courant. She maintains her shapely figure with lots of different fruits and veggies, but her favorite food is bananas.
Today, Chuckles will be pushed out of her hole, check for her shadow, and whisper her diagnosis to Manchester Mayor Lou Spadaccini.
"I'm the only one who can speak groundhog in the whole town," Spadaccini told the Courant.
The forecast is guaranteed only for Connecticut.
Posted Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 - 6:59 AM EST
