Groundhog Day: Tymko III Predicted Early Spring

Today, the Biological Station of Karazin University in Haidary village, Zmiiv district, held celebrations of Groundhog Day.

This is a traditional February holiday associated with weather forecasting. It is believed that you should watch the groundhog coming out of the hole. By his behavior, you can find out when spring will come.

The event was attended by Dean of the School of Biology, Vasyl Zhmurko; Head of Kharkiv Press Club, Liudmyla Dolia; Head of Zmiiv Territorial Community, Pavlo Holodnikov, and others.

Liudmyla Dolia recalled the history of celebrating this holiday at Karazin University Biological Station and the life of all the forecasters: “For the first time we gathered at the Biological Station in 2004. The meeting was initiated by Kharkiv biologists and journalists. We set ourselves ambitious goals — to draw attention to conserving this relict animal — the groundhog. Now it is Timko III who makes predictions.”

Vasyl Zhmurko reminded of the importance of studying and preserving nature, in particular the population of groundhogs.

When taken out of his house, Tymko III “whispered” his weather prediction to the Keeper of the Groundhog, Nadiia Tokarska. “Spring is already coming. It will be early. However, this does not mean that after 2-3 weeks. You need to wait a little, and in 6 weeks it will be warm," she explained the prediction.

The groundhog was also asked what would help protect oneself from Covid-19. And the forecaster advised to arm oneself with patience and do sports.