Connecticut Chuckles sees her shadow

Manchester (WTNH/AP) - Chuckles, Connecticut's official state groundhog, saw her shadow this morning, indicating we're in for another six weeks of winter.

Chuckles (OK, Molly is her real name) lives at the Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester, where she whispered her prediction to Mayor Lou Spadaccini shortly before 7:00 a.m. Tuesday.

A crowd of school children and several TV cameras were on hand to capture Chuckles' announcement. "We always look forward to Groundhog Day," executive director Bob Eckert said. "It's the biggest day of the year."

Molly is the 7th official state groundhog.

German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on Feb. 2 -- the Christian holiday of Candlemas -- winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.

The best known of the bunch of weather predicting groundhogs is Punxsutawney Phil. Thousands of people braved the cold weather to be on hand when Phil made his prediction, whch was also for six more weeks of winter.

The Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club annually announces Phil's forecast at dawn on Gobbler's Knob, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The Groundhog Club says since 1887 Phil has predicted more winter weather by seeing his shadow nearly 100 times, but there are no records for nine years.