On Mar 27,  Punxsutawney Phil and his wife, Phyllis, had two healthy pups. No one predicted that! 

According to AP News, the famous Pennsylvania groundhog has been predicting the start of spring for the last 137 years, since 1887. 

How is this possible? Well, Phil has the “Elixir of Life” and is presumed to be immortal.  As if that wasn’t ground-breaking news, who knew there was a Mrs. Punxsutawney Phil? 

Thomas Dunkel, the president of the Inner Circle, who maintains the Pennsylvania spring tradition each year, stated, “We are pleased to announce that Punxsutawney Phil has had his first children; we believe there are two baby groundhogs and that Phil and Phyllis have started a family.”  The Punxsutawney community was shocked to find offspring, this is an unprecedented event. 

The babies were discovered when an Inner Club member went to the burrow to feed the lovely couple.  So, will they inherit their father’s duty someday? No, because Phil is immortal with the “elixir of life” there’s no need. The genders and names are yet to be announced.  At the moment, they are nursing and thriving with mom, Phyllis.  Phil’s burrow will be upgraded to accommodate a family of four. 

Phil even has his own following on Facebook with the help of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.  So, if you’d like to get your “Phil” of Groundhog updates, check out Phil’s Facebook page. 

The tradition is held each year on February 2, at Gobbler’s Knob.  The Groundhog Club explains the European history of this day was originally celebrated as a Christian tradition called Candlemas, where people took candles from their homes to the church to be blessed, to bring blessing to the household.  Then, German culture put their own twist on this tradition by adding the hedgehog to the legend. As time evolved, it became more about whether or not there would be a “second winter” if the hedgehog saw his shadow on the infamous day. 

And now, March 27, 2024 will be noted in Punxsutawney history as the first-ever groundhog offspring are born to the legendary Punxsutawney Phil.