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Article: MARMOT IS KIN TO GROUNDHOG.(Local)
- Article from:
- Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
- Article date:
- January 30, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Rocky Mountain News. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Dialog LLC by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Gary Gerhardt Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
If Punxsutawney Phil lived in Colorado, the prognosticating groundhog would probably be a yellow-bellied marmot.
The mountain-dwelling marmot is our closest relative to the groundhog - the pudgy ground squirrel that's been predicting the weather since members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club in western Pennsylvania first noted his appearance in 1887.
According to legend, if Phil scrambles to the mouth of his burrow into the sunlight and spies his own shadow on Feb. 2, he jumps back underground where he stays for another six weeks of winter.
University of Colorado biology Professor ...