Animal of the Day: Jimmy the Groundhog Bites Mayor’s Ear in Wisconsin

Much of the country was experiencing biting cold on Monday, but the mayor of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin was dealing with a biting groundhog.

Jimmy was having none of this “Groundhog Day” tomfoolery, and he took things into his own hands (or teeth for that matter).

During the ceremony on Monday to find out if we were going to get 6 more weeks or Winter, Mayor Jonathan Freund leaned in close to hear what the little guy had to say.

Big mistake.

Freund apparently also made a mistake with the prediction, announcing that there would be an early Spring while one of Jimmy’s caretakers argued that this had been misinterpreted.

And the city was forced to issue a statement on the whole debacle:

While tradition holds that only the mayor can translate Jimmy’s prediction and that a clear sky generally means Jimmy sees his shadow and that winter will go on for six more weeks, the mayor’s translation this morning was clearly for an early spring. The break with tradition is unusual, but not unprecedented.

I bet the mayor wishes this was one day he could do all over again.