Groundhogs Around The World: Raleigh’s Sir Walter Wally
Since 1998, the groundhog known as Sir Walter Wally has been forecasting the weather at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, North Carolina. Every Groundhog Day there is a Shadow Ceremony on the Museum’s front steps with the mayor of Raleigh presiding as the “Groundhog Whisperer.”
At the ceremony facts about groundhogs are shared, the Groundhog song is sung, and Wally makes his prediction. Inside the museum there are educational stations, a groundhog hat making station, and the groundhog toss. Several thousand people attend the ceremony on a weekday, and on a weekend the number can get as high as 9,000.
You can view 2017’s prediction here:
The words to the Groundhog Song as are follows:
I saw a little groundhog,
He came out in the sun,
And when he saw his shadow,
Back home he had to run.
I wish he hadn’t seen it,
Now I am very blue.
There’s six more weeks of winter,
For him and me and you.
If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by for next year’s event.
Tags: groundhog, groundhog day, groundhogs, groundhogs around the world, north carolina, raleigh, sir walter wally