Sun Prairie Mayor Jonathan Freund’s first-time participation Monday in the city’s Groundhog Day celebration sparked controversy following Jimmy the Groundhog’s snarky welcome to the mayor.
Jimmy arrived in a limo with his caretakers Jerry and Maria Hahn. The sky was clear, implying Jimmy would see his shadow and predict a longer winter.
But Freund broke with normal Groundhog Day custom by leaning in to hear Jimmy “whisper” his prediction. According to Channel 3000, Jimmy subsequently bit Freund’s ear, after which Freund stammered that Jimmy told him there would be an early spring.
The city of Sun Prairie issued a press release citing that tradition says only the mayor can translate the groundhog’s prediction.
“The mayor’s translation this morning was clearly for an Early Spring. The break with tradition is unusual, but not unprecedented,” the release said.
But Jerry Hahn wondered if the mayor interpreted Jimmy’s prediction wrong.
Jimmy’s predictions have a surprising reliability, according to groundhogcentral.com. Since 1994, Jimmy’s accuracy has been above 80 percent with more than 66 percent of his predictions pointing to an early spring. The website says he is one of the most accurate groundhogs in the world.
Sun Prairie Director of Economic Development Neil Stechschulte said in the release the city counts on the mayor’s interpretation because Jimmy is not like other groundhogs.
“We count on Jimmy to actually predict the weather … not just have an automated response based on current weather conditions like other groundhogs across the country,” Stechschulte said in the release.
Pennsylvania’s famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil conversely predicted six more weeks of winter, CBS reported.
Members of the top-hat-wearing Pennsylvania contingent announced Phil’s prediction as “your best bet.”
