Will Punxsutawney Phil see his shadow Friday morning during a Groundhog Day celebration at the Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania? FOX Weather has a look at the shadow cast forecast for the state.
DUNCANSVILLE, Penn. – Recent photos show a groundhog blending into a pile of stuffed animals inside a Duncansville claw machine game.
Located in southern Pennsylvania, Duncansville is home to the Meadows Family Fun Center, where employees discovered the stealthy groundhog. They reported the animal, leading to a state game warden to respond.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission-Southcentral Region said, when the warden arrived, he saw the stuffed animals inside the claw machine game move in a wave-like fashion as the groundhog moved underneath.
The animal then popped its head out above the toys.
To retrieve the groundhog, the vending machine company was contacted to unlock the claw machine game. This allowed the warden to safely capture the groundhog and then release it unharmed, the game commission said.
The groundhog inside the claw machine.
(Pennsylvania Game Commission-Southcentral Region / FOX Weather)
Also known as woodchucks, groundhogs are the largest member of the squirrel family in Pennsylvania, according to the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Perhaps the most famous of the Pennsylvania rodents is Punxsutawny Phil, who folklore says can predict the start of spring.