By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – For the first time in anyone's memory, there was no Groundhog Day ceremony at the St. Louis Zoo today (Monday).
In years past, the Zoo's resident groundhog, Chester, would pop out of his burrow on February 2nd to let everyone know whether to expect six more weeks of winter.
But Chester died last year, and the associate curator of the Children's Zoo, Alice Seyfried says the new groundhog, Lily, is not as willing to participate.
"This year we have a very, very crabby groundhog," Seyfried said. "Lily is far from good-natured so we are not celebrating Groundhog Day because there's not a one of us that wants to drag her out of her burrow."
Lily was donated to the Zoo last summer after being raised as a pet for a year and a half. "She's just not reliable," Seyfried added. "And they have extremely strong jaws, very sharp teeth and to be bit by one would not be a good thing. So we really don't handle Lily at all ever, not just at this time of year but at any time of year."
Seyfried says the Zoo has space for just one groundhog at a time, and that St. Louisans will just have to decide for themselves whether there's more winter in store.