Last year in my January 21, 2013 blog (very optimistically entitled “Signs of Spring 3”) I wrote about Groundhog Day and suggested that we change this early February day-of-prediction to focus not on an animal that is sound asleep in his grass-lined burrow, but rather on an animal with whom we could more naturally base an ecologically significant day of hope for the coming spring. (Photo: Mazie by D. Sillman).
Several animal species came to mind for this revamped holiday: the American robin (a culturally acknowledged harbinger of spring), honeybees or bumblebees (vital pollinating insects who bravely venture out on any warm transition day between winter and spring in a search for nectar), or any of the soon-to-be-arriving, migratory bird species (how about the scarlet tanager or the rose-breasted grosbeak or the wood thrush?). But, none of these species, like the woodchuck dreaming his woodchuck dreams and breathing once every six minutes in his burrow, are expected to be out and about in these regions on February 2. We need an animal that truly dreads the cold and wet of the winter and whose active presence and participation in our predictive rituals would not be an ecological abomination.
That animal, of course, is the house cat.
Cats are the most popular house pet in the United States (the Humane Society estimates that there 74 to 86 million house cats in the U.S. (as compared to “only” 70 to 78 million dogs). House cats, usually, share the warm, dry living spaces of a house with humans (of course, sometimes they keep the really nice spots all to themselves!), and cats especially share with humans a hardwired, probably DNA-based fondness for sunshine, warm temperatures, and fun, fluttery organisms like birds (their “bird-agenda,” though, is often quite different from ours!).
So, last year on February 2, I took one of my house cats, Mazie, out into the snow-covered front yard (I tried to take both of my cats, but Taz sensed that something was up and disappeared into one of her magical hiding places somewhere in the house). I put Mazie down in the yard (on a nice dry towel!), and left the front porch door open. If Mazie ran for the porch, then we would have six more weeks of winter. If Mazie stayed on her towel or starting walking around in the yard thus avoiding the dash back into the house, then spring was just around the corner.
I was amazed how fast she ran back into the house! So, last year we got six more weeks of winter.
We’ll find out this Sunday what this year will bring! I am sure that Mazie will do her best for us all!
Excellent! We’ll try it too.