While most of the country looks to Punxsutawney Phil out in Pennsylvania as their go to weather-forecasting rodent, there’s another “seer of seers” out in Colorado with a flair for the dramatic when it comes to making his predictions.
Boulder, Colorado’s own top-hat wearing yellow-bellied marmot meteorologist named Flatiron Freddy emerged from his burrow this morning and made an Olympic curling-inspired entrance (in the past he has entered by canoe, skis and zip line) before issuing his prediction that Colorado will experience an early spring.
Freddy may not have the same name recognition as his cousin Phil but he certainly knows how to make an entrance:
About Flatiron Freddy Tradition:
Open Space and Mountain Parks’ Flatiron Freddy event on Groundhog Day is a quirky, uniquely Boulder tradition that has happened for more than 15 years. In the early 2010s, Flatiron Freddy existed peacefully as a deceased, stuffed yellow-bellied marmot – a close relative to the groundhog – in Boulder’s Flagstaff Nature Center, where stuffed animal mounts are typically stored until the spring. One winter Freddy was inadvertently left out, and his fur was damaged and was about to be removed from the center. Rangers felt he deserved more.
Since then, Freddy has become part of an annual Boulder Groundhog Day tradition. In recent years, Freddy has made his way out of his burrow each year in various ways, such as skiing down a trail, driving a car out of his burrow, and even by zip line in a canoe. It’s up to Rangers to interpret Freddy’s weather forecast.
