Why groundhogs emerge in February: They go a-courtin'

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, February, 2006 | by Faye Flam

When held up to the light of scientific observation, Groundhog Day turns out, like most things, to be all about sex.

This fact is almost certainly lost on the thousands of revelers who went to Punxsutawney, Pa., unwittingly ruining another Groundhog Day for Punxsutawney Phil, who has bigger things on his agenda than seeing his shadow.

Instrumental in unearthing the truth about groundhogs is Pennsylvania State University evolutionary biologist Stam Zervanos. Zervanos spends most of his time traveling the world studying biodiversity and taking his students on trips to Alaska, Costa Rica and Tanzania. But since he works at the Berks Campus near Reading, he thought he should spend some time studying the ever-abundant groundhogs.

One particular mystery was...