Hey there, smarty pants.
Trusty narrator here.
Quick question.
Do you know why sheep need haircuts?
Or if goats really will eat anything?
Or what horsepower has to do with horses?
Yeah. me neither.
That's why I love the Super Smart Farm Show, a family podcast that answers the exact questions we all ask about farms, animals and food.
It's like Who Smarted, but on a farm.
Each week, the host, my friend Elmer, heads out to the farm to explore animals like cows chickens pigs, sheep and even bees.
He digs into how plants grow, how food gets from farm to plate, takes you aboard tractors and harvesters to see how farmers do their jobs and how the machines work.
It's playful, curious, and genuinely smart.
And it's from the Lancaster farming team, who've been covering agriculture since 1955.
If you love asking questions about nature farms, animals and food, the Super Smart Farm Show podcast is for you.
Find Super Smart Farm Show wherever you get your podcasts today. or at LancasterFarming.com.
That's Super Smart Farm Show, wherever you get your podcasts.
And now it's time for Who Smarted?
Psst, hey, smarty pants.
When it's the beginning of February and you just can't wait for winter to end.
Where's the best place to go?
Okay, I'm hearing warm spots like Florida, Hawaii, the Caribbean.
Ooh, someone said the Canary Islands.
Yep, those are all nice.
But I'm talking about a place where there's a big annual celebration, with tens of thousands of people who wake up early in the morning and gather in the shivering cold to get a weather report of sorts from a groundhog.
Yep, that's a thing.
Smarty Pants, welcome to Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, home of the world-famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil.
People around these parts say this particular groundhog has a special, magical ability.
Do you know what it is?
Is it A, Phil can predict the weather, B, Phil can change colors, or C, Phil can fly?
The answer, of course, is A, Phil can predict the weather.
Whoa.
Allegedly.
Let's see how well you know the legend.
If Phil comes out of his hole in the ground on Groundhog Day and sees his shadow, does it mean we should expect more or less winter weather ahead?
The answer is This is Chet Nickerson reporting live from Punxsutawney Pennsylvania, where the groundhog has just seen his shadow.
That means six more weeks of winter ahead.
Better bundle up, trusty.
Yep, seeing a shadow means more winter.
And no shadow means springtime is right around the corner.
What do you think of that, smarty pants?
I think it's a sham.
A sham?
That's right, a sham, a charade, a fake, a fraud, pure make-believe.
That's some accusation.
And you are?
Call me Babe.
Babe?
As in Babe Ruth, the legendary baseball player?
No, as in Babe the Badger.
Ah yes, I failed to note that you are a short squat, furry creature with sharp claws and a long, pointy snout.
Not a legendary baseball player.
Nope, although I was pretty legendary back in the day.
You see, before the groundhog, people counted on me to predict the weather.
Are you saying Groundhog Day used to be Badger Day?
That's right.
But while I was a huge part of the holiday, the idea behind it goes way, way back.
Hmm, Smarty Pants, when did the bizarre practice of getting weather predictions from groundhogs Or badgers?
Or badgers begin?
And how often is the groundhog or badger's weather predictions correct?
And what do we mean when we say something is like Groundhog Day?
It's time for another whiff of history and science on... Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who's smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science or history?
Listen up, everyone.
We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smart?
Quick question.
What is a groundhog?
Is it A, a giant squirrel, B, a woodchuck, or C, a rodent known as a marmot?
The answer is all three.
Groundhogs and woodchucks are the same thing and they're closely related to that familiar rodent, the squirrel.
Groundhogs are furry creatures close in size and weight to a pet cat.
They live in multi-level underground burrows, some longer than 65 feet or 20 meters.
As such, they have a real talent for digging holes.
But what about weather forecasting?
I think it's a sham.
A sham?
That's right, a sham.
A charade, a fake, a fraud.
Pure make-believe.
Hold on, aren't you... Call me Babe.
Right, and then I said, as in Babe Ruth, the legendary baseball player.
And you said... No, as in Babe the Badger.
Hold on, haven't we had this conversation before?
Have we?
You also said Groundhog Day used to be Badger Day.
I did, and it was.
But not at the very beginning.
This holiday goes back well before Groundhogs and Badgers.
Can you guess how far back it goes?
Smartypants, how old is the earliest version of Groundhog Day?
200 years?
1,000 years?
2,000 years?
The roots of Badger...
Groundhog Day go back more than 2,000 years to prehistoric times.
Historians believe it was all started by the Celts.
The Celtic people are associated with Ireland, but in prehistoric times, they were all over Europe.
And these people had four major festivals each year.
Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lunasa.
Smartypants, can you guess what these four festivals celebrated?
Was it A, phases of the moon, B, changing seasons, or C, basketball championships?
If you said B, changing seasons, you're right.
The seasons are very important since they impact fishing and farm crops, you know, the food supply.
These days, a season changes at a solstice, which is the shortest or longest day of the year, or at an equinox, a day when daylight and nighttime are about equal.
But centuries ago, people marked seasonal changes at a day halfway between a solstice and equinox.
So instead of March June, September and December, seasons changed to on May 1st, August 1st, November 1st and ta-da February 1st.
But Groundhog Day is celebrated February 2nd.
Sheesh, don't you think I know that?
Stupid groundhog.
Anyway, the Celtic holiday on February 1st, in bulk, stretched to sundown on February 2nd.
Ah, I see.
Hundreds of years later, when Christianity spread through Europe, people didn't want to lose the ancient Celtic holidays, so they simply renamed them.
Beltane became May Day, which is still a huge holiday in Europe.
Samhain became All Saints Day, also a holiday today.
And of course, the evening before is Halloween.
Lunasa in August became something called Loaf Mass Day, which had something to do with bread.
Today, it's known as Spider-Man Day.
Spider-Man Day?
Yeah, loaf mass didn't stick.
But Spider-Man, created in August of 1962, sure did.
But that don't matter.
The day we care about is in bulk, which became... Groundhog Day?
Candle Mass.
Oh.
Yeah, it was a day when Christians brought candles to church for a blessing.
But get this, people didn't give up their weather superstitions.
They were concerned about their crops, especially on that day.
Can you guess what they thought would happen if it rained on Candlemas?
Smartypants, do you think people were upset or happy if it rained on Candlemas?
Here, listen to a poem from 1678, read by world-renowned weather fortune teller, Virga.
Yes, yes, here is my prediction.
If candlemas day be fair and bright, winter will have another flight.
If on candlemas day it be shower and rain, winter is gone and will not come again.
Thank you.
I predict much happiness and sunshine in your future.
Hey!
Hey!
Don't blame me.
I is just a messenger.
Wait, are you saying people wanted rain on Candlemas Day because they thought it would mean an early spring?
That's what we're saying.
Hmm, smarty pants.
Does that sound familiar?
Yep, it's just like how the groundhog might predict an early spring.
You mean badger.
It was badger day first.
Right.
Smartypants, any guesses who came up with Badger Day?
Was it A, the Romans, B, the French, or C, the Germans?
Here is the answer in musical form.
That's right.
It's C, the Germans.
The Germans also believed a sunny candle mass meant another six weeks of miserable winter weather.
But apparently, they needed proof whether it was sunny or not.
Hello?
Just look outside the window.
But no, instead, they looked at badgers and other small critters.
According to legend, if the sun was out on Candlemas, these animals would cast a shadow and would crawl back into their holes and winter would continue.
The Germans would eventually call Candlemas Badger Day.
Right, so how did Badger Day become Groundhog Day?
You can thank your fellow Americans for that.
Specifically, the German immigrants who came to America in the 1700s.
Smarty Pants, when Germans came to America, in what state did many of them settle?
Was it Florida, Vermont, or Pennsylvania?
The answer is C, Pennsylvania.
And Pennsylvania, of course, is where the most famous Groundhog Day celebration takes place, in a town called Punxsutawney.
And just like the old Candlemas Day tradition, if the groundhog, formerly the Badger, sees its shadow, it predicts six more weeks of winter.
I think it's a shame.
Yes, you said that already.
Call me Babe.
I know.
You're... Babe the Badger.
I swear we've done all of this before.
Oh, really?
So you know Groundhog Day was once Badger Day?
Yes, but Smarty Pants, can you guess why German immigrants switched from badgers to groundhogs?
Was it because A badgers bite people, B badgers were hard to find in Pennsylvania, or C groundhogs are more intelligent?
Hey, badgers are just as smart as groundhogs.
Possibly.
But that's not the answer.
The answer is B. Badgers are scarce in Pennsylvania.
But you know what there are a lot of?
That's right.
Groundhogs.
And since groundhogs are similar to badgers, they ditched me for him.
And on February 2nd 1887 some guys from Punxsutawney continued the Badger Day Groundhog Day tradition with a silly little public ceremony.
And this ceremony continued year after year until it grew into a massive thing.
And that's how this groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, became a huge star.
And not Babe the Badger.
To be fair, Phil did have some help from a hit movie.
The same movie that got people to say, it's just like Groundhog Day when a certain thing happens.
What thing?
I'll tell you right after this quick break.
Let's do this.
From the artists that made K-pop Demon Hunters and Spider-Verse.
I'm Will Harris.
And I'm the first small to play professional roar ball with the fiercest animals in the most dangerous stadiums.
And producer Stephen Curry.
You don't belong here.
You're too small.
Want to bet?
You're never too small.
Let me show you what I got.
To dream big.
We're just going.
Night, night.
Goat.
As the trusty narrator, I've taken the smarty pants on countless adventures.
I'll do anything for the fans.
But off mic, I prefer to keep my adventures in the safe space of my own backyard.
However, even a homebody like me can't avoid the unexpected chaos that comes with family life.
Take last week, for example.
My niece was staying with me when she came down with a nasty cold in the middle of the night.
I couldn't leave her alone to get medicine, and that's when I remembered DoorDash is there for you whatever you need, whenever you need it.
With a few taps on my phone, I had cough syrup and tissues delivered right to my door.
DoorDash saved the night, and my niece was back to her energetic self in no time.
Oh, and did I order a little ice cream for myself?
Yes, I did.
And DoorDash brought it right to my door.
So while I may not be the biggest fan of real-life adventures, I'm grateful that DoorDash is always there to help me navigate life's little emergencies.
When life happens, get a little order delivered with DoorDash.
Order now.
Hey there, homeschool parents.
Trusty here, and wow, February, woof, am I right?
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And now, back to Who Smarted.
Smartypants, you've heard how the world's most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, started predicting the weather on February 2nd.
But how often are Phil's predictions correct?
9 out of 10 times?
7 out of 10 times?
Or 5 out of 10 times?
Well, according to American and Canadian weather services, Phil is right about... half the time.
Or 5 out of 10 times. maybe even less.
Yet every year, thousands of people still flock to Pennsylvania
