Groundhog Day Revisited

According to a post yesterday on Scientific American's "60-second science" blog, Groundhog Day has less to do with weather and more to do with...well..sex.

Citing a study conducted at Penn State University, the following is noted:

Groundhogs, aka woodchucks, stop hibernating in early March. But the male rodents emerge from their burrows periodically during their four-month hibernation to visit potential partners.

[...]

“For males, these early excursions are an opportunity to survey their territories and to establish bonds with females,” [study author Stam. M.] Zervanos said in a statement then. “For females, it is an opportunity to bond with males and assess food availability.”

On average, the groundhogs he studied went into hibernation on Nov. 7 and woke up for good on Feb. 28. But the ladies apparently needed their beauty rest: They snoozed for an average 117 days, compared with the guys' 106 days of shut-eye.

In one case, when a male groundhog emerged from his den, he hung out for a few days at the entrance of the girls' dorm until one of the lasses came out ... then, like a typical guy, he went and visited another woman.

And now you know the truth.