Look out, Punxsutawney Phil! Pocono Wildlife houses 2 groundhogs who will look for shadows

Max Augugliaro, Pocono Record
·2 min read

Two groundhogs have joined the cast of critters at Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center for this winter only!

Baked Potato and Sweet Potato will join Punxsutawney Phil as Pennsylvanian groundhogs determining how much more winter we will have.

“They were found orphaned with no mother, and somebody brought them in to us,” said clinic manager for Pocono Wildlife, Kathryn ‘Kat’ Schuster.

Schuster said that the center believed that the groundhogs would not have enough time to dig a hole deep enough to hibernate in, so they decided to keep them over the winter and release them in the springtime.

From left to right, Baked Potato and Sweet Potato at Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in January 2024.
From left to right, Baked Potato and Sweet Potato at Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in January 2024.

Pocono Wildlife Executive Director Susan Downing explained that the groundhogs were named after potatoes because of how small they were when they arrived, and how they looked like potatoes. “Literally, if you saw it just sitting there from a distance, it looks like a little potato.”

Downing mentioned that groundhogs are expensive because “they’re all fruits and vegetables,” and that Pocono Wildlife would love both donations and volunteers.

Schuster added that they like to eat mixed nuts as well, and that food store gift certificates would also be appreciated.

On Groundhog Day, which is Friday, Feb. 2, Baked Potato and Sweet Potato will be woken up early to see if they see their shadows, much like their fellow groundhog Punxsutawney Phil on the other side of the state.

If they see their shadows, it means six more weeks of winter; if they do not, if signifies an early spring, according to the tradition.

“And hopefully, we’ll get an early spring,” said Schuster.

Groundhog facts

Here are a few facts about groundhogs provided by Schuster:

  • Groundhogs can dig burrows that are 6 feet deep and 50 to 100 feet wide, and these burrows have many different rooms such as a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom and a nursery.

  • Groundhogs are part of the squirrel family of rodents.

  • In the wild, groundhogs can live for four to six years. In captivity, they can live around 14 years.

  • If you do not want groundhogs around your premises, you can apply castor oil or an ammonia product around their holes, as they do not like their scents.

  • Groundhogs breathe only once or twice every few minutes when they are in deep hibernation.

  • Their biggest predators include humans, foxes, coyotes and some bobcats.

Max Augugliaro is the public safety and government watchdog reporter at the Pocono Record. Reach him at MAugugliaro@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Meet Baked Potato and Sweet Potato, Pocono Wildlife's new groundhogs