BEAUMONT, Texas — It looks like we're in for an early spring according to the Southeast Texas prognosticator 'Big Al' the gator who agreed with Punxsutawney Phil's meteorological prediction Friday.
While much of the country looks to a rodent in Pennsylvania today to see if spring is coming early, here in Southeast Texas we look to a huge reptile with lots of teeth to make our Groundhog Day prediction.
For the past 18 years Gator Country's "Big Al," a 93-year-old, 13'4" long alligator, has been predicting if we'll get an early spring in Southeast Texas.
At noon on Friday, Al was offered a piece of chicken and took a couple bites according Gator Country's Gary Saurage. If he had refused his snack, winter would have been here for another six weeks.
He last predicted an early spring in 2020 and in 2017.
Punxsutawney Phil's meteorological prediction was announced just after sunrise Friday in Gobbler's Knob, the scene of the largest and best known Groundhog Day celebration in the United States.
The annual event is a tongue-in-cheek ritual in which Phil's handlers, members of a club with roots in the late 19th century, reveal whether the groundhog has seen his shadow — ushering in six more weeks of winter weather — or hasn't, presaging early spring like weather.
About 10,000 people have made their way in recent years to Punxsutawney, where festivities begin in the dead of night and culminate in the midwinter forecast. A bundled-up crowd, some wearing groundhog-themed hats, watched musical performances and fireworks as they waited for sunrise and the appearance of Punxsutawney Phil.