Groundhog Day

First of all, let me start out by saying that YES, I know that Groundhog Day was yesterday. Now on to business.

I want to know why we continue to trust a rotten burrowing rodent, to predict our seasonal change from Winter to Spring. I'm sure that if I looked it up, it would say that Groundhog Day is based on some ancient Pagan ritual; or something similar. But why do we still do this???

Supposedly, if this fat little rodent comes out of his hole and "sees his shadow", there's going to be 6 more weeks of Winter; if he doesn't, it means an early Spring. How on earth do you know if this diseased beast see his shadow? And what happens if it's paricularly overcast that day and he doesn't have the opportunity to see his shadow? Does that automatically mean an early Spring?

My point is that this is something of a lame, and even mildly annoying, faux holiday. I understand that it's a tradition, and that there are some people, particularly those who live in Punxatawney, Pennsylvania, who really get into it; I don't begrudge them that. However, I don't think a fat little rodent that burrows under the ground, and probably has some nasty diseases, poking his head out of the ground warrants a "holiday" and a ridiculous amount of media attention; let alone us trusting his "prediction" of what's going to happen with the seasons.

Maybe it's just that I'm anti-rodent; most rodents anyway.