Skip to main content
This morning, the Oregon Zoo really took alternative facts to a new level, asking a tiny hedgehog predict whether we would see six more weeks of winter, or if spring was coming.
Never mind the official call of six more weeks of winter from the real whistle pig Punxsutawney Phil, who has probably never been more in touch with the American psyche than now.
In Portland, FuFu, the zoo's off-brand groundhog, did not see her shadow, meaning that spring is coming.
That seems strange, as the National Weather Service is predicting a winter snow storm tonight, with freezing rain continuing through tomorrow. Even the Portland Bureau of Transportation is getting geared up, investing in 100 tons of rock salt.
Related: Portland Will Use Salt to Clear Roads of Snow, Starting This Week
The zoo claims that hedgehogs are really the weather experts, despite decades of groundhog-based meteorology and a Bill Murray movie to the contrary.
""According to folklore, the Europeans who originated the tradition originally used hedgehogs. When they immigrated to the United States, they realized their new home didn't have hedgehogs, so they turned to the groundhog out of necessity. But FuFu is bringing the holiday back to its origins," says Oregon Zoo curator Tanya Paul in a statement.
She also says that the zoo's hedgehogs have been correct more times than Punxsutawney Phil, who has about a 39 percent accuracy rate.
We'll see about THAT.