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WATCH: Groundhog In Wisconsin Bites Mayor's Ear

If you've had enough with winter and Punxsutawney Phil let you down ( he saw his shadow) then another little marmot in a small town in Wisconsin has your ticket.

Apparently, Jimmy the Groundhog, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, doesn't play by the rules.

Video shows Mayor Jon Freund listening carefully for Jimmy's prognostication. Suddenly, Jimmy channels Mike Tyson and bites Freund's ear.

Here's the video:

Freund then apparently fumbles the translation and says that Jimmy is calling for an early end to winter, because he had not seen his shadow.

Madison.com disputes that because the sun was shining brightly today in Sun Prairie. The paper reports:

"Jimmy's handler, Jerry Hahn, said the mayor maybe misinterpreted the groundhog call, since it was a sunny day.

"Freund said he checked with Jimmy twice just to make sure.

"'When I checked the second time, he got his point across,' Freund said. 'I'm going with an early spring because Jimmy didn't see his shadow.'"

According to the paper, this is the 67th year Sun Prairie celebrates groundhog day and this was this particular Jimmy's first celebration.

"It isn't known if it also was his last," the paper concludes.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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