`GIRARDEAU GEORGE' BACK TO WEATHER FORECASTING WAYS

"Girardeau George" is back.

Anyone traveling Route W, between Kingshighway the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri today, may notice the hairy little rodent this morning, on a log looking cute and nibbling nuts.

If so, that could be bad news for fair-weather friends.

If you don't see George, that could be good news.

Or vice versa -- depending on the day's weather. Today's forecast calls for mostly cloudy weather, in which case our furry friends won't be seeing their shadows.

But, if just a trace of sunshine trickles in, that could be a different forecast.

Folklore has it that on Groundhog Day -- today -- if a groundhog emerges from his winter slumber and sees his shadow, he will go back into his burrow to another six weeks of winter.

However, if George, or his more renown relative, Punxsutawney (Pa.) Phil do not see their shadows "spring is just around the corner."

Punxsutawney Phil and his ancestors have been involved in the weather-forecasting business more than a century and people the nation over await his annual prediction.

Girardeau George became Southeast Missouri's best-known groundhog during the early 1970s and mid-1980s. After handing out predictions for more than a decade, he took a woodchuck sabbatical.

George's impending return was revealed this week by an anonymous note from George, or one of his clan, forwarded to this writer.

Don't bet on a "spring" prediction, however. Over the years, Phil and George have predicted six more weeks of winter more than 90 percent of the time.

Marmota Monax (groundhogs) have been in the weather oracle business 113 years.

The legend was born in 1882, and each year when Phil delivers his verdict on Feb. 2, it is dutifully recorded and reported on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, where it is noted in the Congressional Record.

In centuries past, many people believed that animals had an uncanny ability to predict the weather. The Germans and English observed that hibernating bears and badgers sometimes began to stir around this time of year, and hoped it was a sign of better weather to come.

Many farmers today keep watch on cows, which seem to head for the barn before a storm.

The marmot, or woodchuck or groundhog, gained the honor of making the "official" prediction of spring in this country. Feb. 2 was selected as the perfect day for predictions because if fell halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. That date, even before the days of groundhog forecasting, has long been celebrated in folk culture as the day to turn our backs on winter and begin looking forward to spring.

Cape Girardeau George's prediction hasn't made it to the White House yet. Maybe that's the reason he gave up weather prognosticating a few years ago. But, he's back...and who knows, perhaps in future years, George's forecast may be placed before the Missouri State Legislature, or, even the U.S. Senate.

And may it will be a "politically correct" forecast -- that spring is about to blossom.