Alaska's Spin on Groundhog Day

Alaskan's don't celebrate Groundhog Day. We celebrate Marmot Day. What's a Marmot you say? Well, it's a large squirrel that burrows into the ground just like the groundhog. In Alaska the marmot builds a cozy den in the ground and stays there until the snow starts to melt, which is usually sometime in May. So even though we know groundhog Phil says to expect six more weeks of winter this year, Alaskans know to expect even more than that. We don't relay on the Marmot to predict the weather either because we know good and well to expect the cold to hang in the air well into may.

February 2^nd, 2010 marks the first official Marmot Day celebration in Alaska. Thanks in part to Wasilla Republican state Sen. Linda Menard who penned the bill to keep Alaskans in the loop and to Sarah Palin, who being Alaska's governor at the time, signed the bill and made it official.

So today I know I won't come across ol' Punxsutawney Phil peaking out of his hole and gasping at the site of his shadow, but I will celebrate my dear Marmot friends who will signal spring in May. Every Alaskan starts to dream of spring about this time. We start planning our gardens, pulling out our breakup boots, and salivating over the glossy pages of seed catalogs. Many window sills will be full of small pots of seedlings. The Daily News Miner will start to run articles with gardening tips and mouth-watering recipes for the produce to come. Alaskans will start assessing their pantry and clearing the way for more shiny jars with golden caps. I'll get out my paper and pencil and begin to sketch out my dream garden for the coming spring. Of course this will be a glorious garden with a mote and castle walls that no moose will be able to cross in order to snack on the tasty morsels meant for my salad bowl. However, by the time the Marmots are actually out of their dens, I will have come to my senses and have something more realistic in the works. And while I am bent over by garden, tilling the still cold soil, I'll listen for that whistle, which I know isn't meant for my derrière, but for my wonderful garden I'm about to create. Hmmm, maybe this year I should plan a raised garden since Marmots are vegetarians.

Later on during the summer after my garden is well on its way and I'm ready to partake of the glorious Alaskan scenery, I'll probably run into a few Marmots or at least step into one of their holes. They are often seen in grassy areas be-bopping their way around the tundra or peaking out of their holes. They seem to love Alaska as much as I do.

Sources:

Without groundhogs, Alaska will celebrate Marmot Day: Alaska News | adn.com. 1 Feb 2010. Web. 2 Feb 1010
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/1120178.html

Home - Groundhog Day. 2 Feb 2010. Web. 2 Feb 2010
http://www.groundhog.org/