Weather lore: Giant rats and other ways to predict the forecast

A bunch of guys in Pennsylvania, dressed in 1800s cosplay, pulled a giant rat out of the ground the other day and said we had six more weeks of winter headed our way. The same thing happened in Georgia, except the giant rat is extracted from a Civil War era-style plantation house.

It was not the news I wanted to hear after seeing snow falling from the sky more times in one month than I have in a decade and temperatures cold enough to make a snowman put on more than just a scarf, though I’ve never understood why people put scarves on snowmen. It’s easier than a pair of britches, I guess.  

I’m beginning to understand why depression rates are higher in the winter, especially in places more prone to arctic storms. I’ve been inside too much, developed a touch of cabin fever, and long for some warm weather.

Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it. Everyone thinks Mark Twain said that, but it was actually penned by Charles Dudley Warner, a contemporary of Twain, though not as fondly remembered.

Now, you can’t say I never taught you anything.

A groundhog predicting the weather is an odd thing. One of my children asked me about this strange custom and, to be honest, I had to admit I did not know. My kids know how to use the internet, so my days of making things up are long gone.

It turns out that Groundhog Day comes from an old German ritual. If a hibernating animal, traditionally a bear, comes out of its hole on a sunny day, winter isn’t over. When bears became scarce in Germany, they looked to foxes. When foxes got hard to come by, folks looked for badgers.

To carry on this practice the Pennsylvania Dutch settled on the groundhog. They are safer to ask about the weather than a hungry bear or angry badger.

Looking up the history of Groundhog Day led me down a rabbit hole, or groundhog hole, of weather lore. Harsh winters can also be predicted by produce. If apples and onions have a thick skin, you know it’s going to be cold. If squirrel tails are extra bushy, the cold season will be bitter. You need to be very observant of your local squirrel population for that one. If the ones around my house haven’t put on some extra fur yet, they have most likely frozen to death.

Storms can be predicted by the movement of cows. If your herd comes back to shelter in the middle of the day, chances are it will rain that night. The same goes for bees. Somehow animals always seem to know what is going on, better than any meteorologist.

What I did not discover, however, is if there is a sign for a pleasant, warm spring. At this point I’ll believe anything that tells me it’s going to warm up soon.