Connecticut's New Official Groundhog

The Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester is the home of Connecticut's official Groundhog, Chuckles VIII.  Chuckles came to live at the museum when it was determined that he had too many health problems to live in the wild.  He has recovered from his surgeries and is now ready to take on the official Groundhog Day duty.   To get acquainted with our newest State celebrity, 
we will quote a entry from his diary provided by the museum staff:

"Every morning, I wake up in my spacious cage at the Lutz Children's Museum. After a good stretch, I check to see if there is anything good to eat in my bowl. Usually, I have eaten all of my favorite things, like bananas and oranges already, so there is only rabbit pellets and lettuce left over. Then I hear the familiar sound of someone opening the refrigerator and I scratch on the door of my cage to let everyone know that I want my breakfast. One of the animal volunteers opens the door and lets me out for some exercise. I want a banana first, so I stand on my hind feet and reach up to her and give my most adorable groundhog look until she gives me one. When you are as famous as I am, people usually give you what you want. If they don't, I just wait until they open the refrigerator again and then I jump inside and help myself.

After a snack, I take a stroll around the animal exhibit until the volunteer is done cleaning my cage. Then I hop back in to inspect her handiwork. It is never to my liking, so I spend the next ten minutes ripping up all the newspaper that she lined the cage with and stuffing it in to my house. By now I am pretty tired, so I curl up for a nap in my litter box.

Later, I will wake up to snack on some carrots and broccoli. I will need energy for tonight, when I stay up to read the farmer's almanac and study weather maps. I need to prepare for my first weather prediction on February 2, 2013. That is the day when I will be sworn in as Connecticut's Official Groundhog!"

For more information on the Litz Museum:  www.lutzmuseum.org or call (860)643-0949