So those fun-loving folks at PETA are upset that the country's most famous groundhog - Punxsutawney Phil - is on display year-round.   In a letter they fired off to Bill Deeley, the president of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club (yes, they have one of those), they said that this is a cruel way to treat an animal.   And they're actually suggesting he be replaced by a robot groundhog.  Deeley called the request "crazy."  He added, "Phil is probably treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania.  He's got air conditioning in the summer, his pen is heated in the winter...he has everything but a TV in there.  What more do you want?"

Not to be outdone, in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, the local Lions Club is bringing in a pig instead of a groundhog for the annual Groundhog Day breakfast.  (Don't feel bad, I don't quite get it either).  They've named the pig King Arthur.  At sunrise this Saturday (not even Groundhog Day) the porker will look for his shadow prior to the breakfast. 

I know the whole Groundhog Day thing is all in fun, but there's actually a much easier way to do it and you could eliminate the animals entirely.  As lore has it, if the groundhog sees his shadow, that means six more weeks of winter, right?  Why not just say if the sun is shining that day, it means six more weeks of winter?  If it's cloudy, it means an early spring.  I know, that takes all the fun out of it.

But, of course, the bottom line in Wisconsin is that we'd be HAPPY  if there were only six more weeks of winter.  As we know all too well, we usually get winter all the way into May.