Groundhogs and other small critters

Today is Groundhog Day, or Candlemas, and the weather on this day is said to mark the progress of winter, which is actually at its midpoint.  Today was actually sunny and warm, but here is a more typical winter picture taken from our front porch and here is an old saying/poem which may explain where the whole groundhog myth came from.

If Candlemas be fair and bright, 

Winter will have another flight;

If on Candlemas Day  be shower and rain,

Winter is gone, and will not come again

And here is the closest thing I have to a photo of a groundhog.  This is a pesote (or Coatimundi, as JNG would say), common to Costa Rica and a relative of the raccoon.  The turistas like to stop their cars and buses to feed these critters.