Is Groundhog Day Vegan?

Rah Thomas | January 23, 2025

Posted in: Activism, Uncategorized

Tags: celebration, exploitation, groundhog day, holiday, humane, traditions, Vegan

This year, not long after more than a billion people around the world celebrate Lunar New Year, a smaller, regional holiday called Groundhog Day is celebrated. Growing up, this was one of my favorite reasons to get up early when it was dark and cold outside, along with watching the news report to see if the running list of school cancellations would include mine. If you’ve lived in the area for a while, I’m sure you’re familiar with this tradition, but if you’re not, I’ll explain. Every year on February 2, a group of overly dressed men prance around on a stage making fools of themselves, pull out a groundhog, and declare whether the animal predicts an early spring or more wintery weather.

This may sound awfully silly, but thousands of people show up every year to see the live event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. To appease the crowds, the men of the Groundhog Club have come up with a “show” to accompany the main event of weather prediction, which takes all of a minute to complete. But where did this tradition come from, and why do we take weather advice from a rodent? This holiday is based on ancient traditions of weather lore. 

The story takes us back hundreds of years ago in Germany, where many people would look to the natural world for signs of what might happen in nature. This is called phenology. By watching what animals do and when plants bloom, you can guess pretty accurately when to plant your seeds or whether there will be more snow. In Germany, people would look to hedgehogs on Candlemas (February 2) to see what they were doing. From the hedgehog activity, folks would predict what the weather would be like for the remaining six weeks of winter.

To clarify, February 2 is the middle of winter. There are always six weeks from then until spring—that is never up for debate. February 2 is always the midway point of winter and has been a day of celebration by pagans long before Groundhog Day or Candlemas. The question is this: Will the weather be cold and winter-like or mild and spring-like?

So these hibernating creatures come up from their den and look around. If they see their shadow and run back to their burrow, indicating that it’s a sunny day, we have six more weeks of winter. If it’s cloudy and they forage around a bit, that means an early spring is on the way.

Our area of Pennsylvania was founded, in part, by Germanic immigrants (aka Pennsylvania Dutch), and along came their traditions, too. The German immigrants learned there were no hedgehogs to be found, so they went with the best native animal, the groundhog. As a placeholder, they looked to the groundhog on Candlemas to determine what the weather would be like for the remainder of winter. In the late 1880s, the small town of Punxsutawney created the Groundhog Club to further protect this rite of celebration. Even though Groundhog Day started in a small Pennsylvania town and this continues to be its biggest celebration, many places throughout the United States and Canada have their own groundhog and events. Today’s event looks very little like the humble beginnings, and we do not actually watch what the groundhog naturally does, as Phil is removed from a fake stump and a handler reads a prewritten script that was determined by a human. The “success” rate of Punxsutawney Phil is very low, about 39%, but remember that this prediction isn’t based on watching normal animal behavior and is only as accurate as a guess by someone in the Groundhog Club. 

Because of this low success rate, PETA has suggested that a coin be tossed instead, which would give a more likely correct prediction. PETA claims that using a groundhog is animal abuse and a gimmick for tourism. Every year, it asks that the groundhog be replaced with a coin because Phil is an individual, not a meteorologist. The organization says that since groundhogs are solitary, keeping one confined throughout the year and subjecting the animal to crowds is cruel.

I find the coin toss suggestion not likely to take hold since it disregards where this tradition comes from and fails to consider the heritage behind it. Whether or not something constitutes animal exploitation can be a complicated subject. Where we draw lines is often very personal and not clear for everyone to agree upon. The issue lies with the Groundhog Club. It shrouds itself in secrecy. For example, it claims that Phil is the original groundhog and has never been replaced. Does it have a secret groundhog-breeding program? Is it capturing wild adult groundhogs? Phil is an integral part of the tourism of Groundhog Day. I’m sure he wasn’t asked to be a part of the show, so we must consider whether this is exploitation. Personally, I think the solution is clear: We have the technology to watch animals on nature cameras all over the world, so we could watch Phil emerge from his burrow in nature the same way. We couldn’t have thousands of people descend to his den, because he would never emerge due to the noise. But that stage could keep the crowds, the dancing, the whole show—and have a large screen show the live feed of Phil’s den. We could then watch as Phil naturally emerges and makes his own actual prediction, which would boost the accuracy rate, too!

We will never inspire change by belittling traditions or asking someone to change their entire way of celebrating. Instead of threatening heritage, let’s lean toward ways of continuing traditions in a more ethical way.

So is Groundhog Day vegan? The way the Groundhog Club celebrates in Punxsutawney really leans toward no. But watching what wildlife does in your backyard absolutely is. Another way to get involved in watching nature is by taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, which runs February 14 through 17, 2025. Your involvement in watching your backyard will help establish wild bird populations for better protection of these species. You would only need to observe for 15 minutes on each of these four days, but you could absolutely observe for a longer period! This time of year, everyone is ready for spring and looking for signs that it’s near. Looking around us to see what the world is doing is natural human behavior. 

What are your thoughts about Groundhog Day? Is it all in good fun, or is exploitative? Do you have a suggestion for how to create a more compassionate celebration? I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you have a tradition you celebrate on February 2.