CLEVELAND — Feb. 2 is designated as Groundhog Day. While most people have heard of Punxsutawney Phil who resides in Pennsylvania, Ohio is home to its very own weather predicting groundhog -- Buckeye Chuck.
The popular rodent has recently found a new home at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
"He is a year and a half. We estimate he was born June of 2022 and then came here in June of 2023," explained Jim Nemet, Director of Wildlife at the Museum.
The team there has been working to prepare Buckeye Chuck (his real name is Murray), for his official duties.
"Pretty much his duty is to walk out, look cool, talk about groundhogs and go back in," said Nemet.
Murray was found on the side of the road in Trumbull County and was recused by a family who lived nearby.
"They took him home with them, fed him a little bit and tried to release him near their area in Trumbull County. He kept coming back, interacting with their dog, interacting with the family and they said he's not leaving," said Nemet. "It's [ Murray] been used to being around people. It can't be released back out into nature. So it's going to keep going to look for people. So that's why it came here."
Since arriving at the museum, the team has focused on allowing Murray to voluntarily move about his enclosures.
"Just a lot of practice, a lot of repetition, a lot of positive reinforcement, so that he feels like he wants to come out of that, out of the carrier and find out what's going on," said Nemet.
Buckeye Chuck's inception began in 1979. Tradition says if our rodent friend sees its shadow, six more weeks of winter is on the way. If he doesn’t, spring is set to arrive early.
Last year, Buckeye Chuck saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter.
On Friday, Buckeye Chuck will make the trip from Cleveland to Marion, Ohio, for the official ceremony.
"Part of his responsibility here is to be an ambassador for his species, but all other species in Ohio in a lot of our education programs," said Nemet.
The ceremony will take place from 7-8 a.m. at WMRN Studios located at 330 N. Main Street in Marion. It will also be live streamed on the Buckeye Chuck Facebook Fan Page.