French Creek Freddie is shown on Feb. 2, 2024, in his enclosure at the West Virginia Wildlife Center at French Creek, Upshur County. On that Groundhog Day, Freddie did not see his shadow, predicting that spring was just around the corner.
A crowd of over 400 people gather to see whether or not French Creek Freddie will see his shadow in his enclosure at the West Virginia Wildlife Center at French Creek, Upshur County, on Feb. 2, 2024. On this Groundhog Day, Freddie did not see his shadow, predicting that spring is just around the corner.
West Virginia’s groundhog, French Creek Freddie, predicted an early spring as he did not see his shadow, on Feb. 2, 2024, at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center near French Creek, Upshur County, West Virginia.
Is West Virginia in store for another six weeks of winter weather or an early spring?
French Creek Freddie, North America’s fourth-longest tenured groundhog weather prognosticator, will make that call Sunday during his 47th annual Groundhog Day appearance in the amphitheater at the West Virginia Wildlife Center in Upshur County.
The free event will be followed by photo opportunities with Freddie, refreshments, a kids’ “wood-chucking†contest and the chance to walk through the center’s wildlife exhibits and view animal occupants in a wintry habitat.
“Groundhog Day is an exciting day here in French Creek, and we are excited to welcome back Freddie’s adoring fans, many of whom make the trip each February,†said Trevor Moore, wildlife biologist at the West Virginia Wildlife Center, which is home to nearly 30 species of native mammals, birds and reptiles.
French Creek Freddie is shown on Feb. 2, 2024, in his enclosure at the West Virginia Wildlife Center at French Creek, Upshur County. On that Groundhog Day, Freddie did not see his shadow, predicting that spring was just around the corner.
SEAN McCALLISTER | Gazette-Mail
Freddie history
Freddie’s weather-predicting career began in 1978, with an assist from then-West Virginia Wildlife Center Superintendent Bill Vanscoy, after a reporter called on Groundhog Day, asking if a groundhog at the center had seen its shadow.
Sensing an opportunity to spur more public interest in the center, which was created to showcase wildlife species native to the Mountain State, Vanscoy responded with an answer “appropriate to the weather we were having,†before being asked if the groundhog he observed had a name.
“I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I skipped the usual lecture on why we don’t name animals and said his name was French Creek Freddie,†Vanscoy said.
The story was carried on The Associated Press news wire, “and soon we were getting calls from all over the country,†Vanscoy said.
Every Feb. 2 since then, scores of people from across the region — including school groups and newspaper, radio and television reporters — turn out to watch Freddie as he is lifted out of his winter den and placed in a surrounding enclosure to take in the crowd and the weather above.
Longest-serving groundhogs
According to groundhog-day.com, which tracks and records Groundhog Day predictions by rodents across North America lists the top four groundhogs (including this year’s expected forecasts) as:
Since the lifespan of groundhogs raised in captivity seldom exceeds 14 years, multiple generations of the marquis rodent prognosticators are involved in carrying out the Feb. 2 tradition.
According to the website, there are 36 weather-predicting groundhogs reporting from sites across the United States and Canada, in addition to 46 “alternative†groundhogs, including “presumed groundhog†Concord Charlie, who communicates his predictions — sometimes by cellphone — only with the president of Concord University, in Athens, Mercer County.
Other alternative groundhogs include taxidermy specimens, people dressed in groundhog suits, an opposum (Alabama’s Sand Mountain Sam) and a desert tortoise (Nevada’s Mojave Max).
A crowd of over 400 people gather to see whether or not French Creek Freddie will see his shadow in his enclosure at the West Virginia Wildlife Center at French Creek, Upshur County, on Feb. 2, 2024. On this Groundhog Day, Freddie did not see his shadow, predicting that spring is just around the corner.
SEAN McCALLISTER | Gazette-Mail
History of Groundhog Day
The Groundhog Day tradition dates back to Candlemas Day, a historic Christian feast day that takes place 40 days after Christmas, to observe the end of the Christmas-Epiphany season, during which clergy would bless and distribute candles. Many people used the early February holiday to predict spring’s arrivals, with superstition holding that, if the day was bright and sunny, the second half of winter would be cold and stormy, while a cloudy day foretold an early arrival of spring.
