HOWELL (WWJ) – Not long after Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring , Howell Nature Center’s Woody the Woodchuck called for six more weeks of winter on Friday morning.
The female critter, dubbed “Michigan’s Official Groundhog,” emerged from her home around 8:30 a.m. to a crowd hoping to hear good news. She took a look around a couple of times before she rushed back inside her home.
“Despite what maybe some of us hoped, it looks like we’re going to have a longer winter,” Representative (D-MI 7th District) Elissa Slotkin said to a crowd of people gathered at the Howell Nature Center. “I’ve got the cheers, I’ve got the boos, we’ve got the full thing, but man Woody was really keeping us on our toes.”
While Woody is going against her counterpart in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania — who did not see his shadow — Slotkin said Woody’s prediction is more reliable.
A federal agency said Phil has an accuracy rate at about 40%, but Woody has a 70% accuracy rate, the nature center said.