Dunkirk Dave is the second-longest prognosticating groundhog. Over the years, 52 to be exact, Bob Will has been organizing the Groundhog Day event in Dunkirk. He says that Dave is right 93% of the time, so let’s hope this year he’s right! This is the third year in a row that Dave has predicted a short winter.

Dave did not feel scared at all this year — in fact he willingly came out of his house and enjoyed a nice pumpkin pie. He ate most of it, then gave the leftovers of the pie to his other groundhog friends.

In fact, Dave just came out of hibernation a couple days ago. During hibernation, the groundhog’s heart only beats about two times a minute and only takes about one breath a minute. When Will wakes Dave up from his hibernation, it’s about a two hour process. “They’re so cold when they wake up, so I put them inside my coat to warm them up,” said Will.

Will and his friend, Bill Verge, rehabilitate groundhogs during the whole year. They always have quite a few groundhogs on hand, with some that can never be released back into the wild because of their injuries.

OBSERVER Photo by Natasha Matteliano Dunkirk Dave enjoys pumpkin pie for the special occasion of Groundhog Day.

In captivity, Verge has to cut the groundhogs’ nails to keep from getting too long. “In the wild, the nails would naturally wear down from all the digging they do, but in captivity we have to cut their nails,” explained Will.

One of Dave’s friends, Bullet, came into Will and Verge’s care because he had been shot, the bullet grazing just over the top of his head. Thankfully, Bullet survived the wound, but suffers from some coordination issues. Sometimes when Bullet is walking, he will make a circle to the left. “Although he looks healthy, he can never be released into the wild,” said Will. “But even with the injuries, they live a good life here.”

Surely, if Bullet had been outside Sunday morning he would have predicted the same thing as Dave — a short winter!