NATURAL PERSPECTIVES:Ground squirrels can predict the weather, too

Tomorrow is Feb. 2, a date that we know and love as National Groundhog Day.

The legend of groundhogs being able to predict the weather started in Punxsutawney, .Pa., in 1887. Clymer H. Freas, the city editor of their local newspaper, the Punxsutawney Spirit, cooked up the story after learning of a group of local hunters who went on a groundhog hunt every Feb. 2. The hunters held a barbecue after the hunt, with the large, rotund rodents featured prominently on the menu.

The editor claimed that a local groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, was able to predict the end of winter depending on whether or not he saw his shadow. If he emerged from hibernation and saw his shadow, there would be six more weeks of winter. In most of the country, that means six more weeks of snow. If the day was cloudy and he didn’t see his shadow, then spring would arrive early.

Although not an officially recognized national holiday, Groundhog Day became popular after the Punxsutawney Phil promotion.

This legend has its origins in an ancient European celebration that was held between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The pagan celebration was turned into a holiday called Candlemas by early Christians. Priests would bless candles for people to put in their windows to ward off the cold, dark winter and hasten the arrival of spring.

Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow nine times out of 10 over the past century. Sure enough, they tend to have another six weeks of winter before those first daffodils and tulips burst through the soil.

However, global warming seems to be throwing off the accuracy of groundhog predictions. February temperatures have been above normal for most of the past decade. Phil has seen his shadow, but spring comes earlier anyway. Each year, new record highs are set as the country warms, and spring comes earlier than it did a century ago.

But while weather-predicting groundhogs might be fine for the rest of the country, we have neither groundhogs nor harsh, snowy winters here. We enjoy what is known as a Mediterranean climate, characterized by dry summers and mild, wet winters.

Forecasters predict rain early in the week, but Friday is expected to be sunny. If we had a resident hibernating groundhog, it would most likely see its shadow, which would mean that we would have six more weeks of winter.

We may not have groundhogs, but we do have ground squirrels, and, like groundhogs, they hibernate through the winter — at least adult ground squirrels do; the juveniles stay awake all winter, scurrying around searching for seeds and grasses. The adults who are now asleep will soon rouse, and a madhouse of mating will ensue. Males will mate with every female they can find, and females will freely mate with all males that approach them.

At the end of six weeks of mating, the males are exhausted. They go back into their burrows and sleep until next spring’s mating season. This leaves the females to raise the young. By fall, the females, too, are exhausted. They hibernate over the winter, leaving the youngsters on their own. This means that we always have at least a few ground squirrels that are out and able to spot their shadows.

We think that the City Council should name the California ground squirrel as our city mammal and declare Feb. 2 our city’s Ground Squirrel Day. Since the scientific name of the California ground squirrel is Spermophilus beecheyi, we propose that our weather-predicting spokes-squirrel be named Beachy Bill.

We could have celebrations every Feb. 2. Beachy Bill would be almost guaranteed to see his shadow. But in our area, another six weeks of winter is another six weeks of great weather with an occasional smattering of rain. I think that it would encourage people to visit our beaches for an early Southern California-style spring. However, Vic worries that Beachy Bill could be like the Rose Bowl Parade, encouraging even more Midwesterners to move to Southern California.

We’re going to go out on a limb and predict that the ground squirrels will see their shadows here tomorrow. We’re also going to predict that we’re going to be in for some really fine weather over the next few weeks. Flowers and fruit trees will burst into bloom, and there will be warm days that are tailor-made for walks on the beach. In our yard, one of our peach trees is already blooming, as are our camellias, Sonoma sage, cobbity daisies, roses and rosemary. Parsley and cilantro are sprouting from seeds, and the artichokes are knee-high.

At Bolsa Chica, blossoms are appearing on the coast bush sunflowers and beach primroses. Enteromorpha, a filamentous, tube-like seaweed, is growing at the edge of the marsh as it does every spring. Ducks are beginning to molt into their breeding plumage, and flocks of shorebirds are getting restless as they fatten up in preparation for their long migration north. Belding’s savannah sparrows are already singing to stake out their nesting territories. Looks like spring may already be here.