On Groundhog Day, celebrated on February 2, at the Tula Exotarium, according to a long-standing tradition, they predicted what the coming spring would be like. There are two boibaks in this zoo, steppe marmot namesakes, Natasha and Seryozha. And for six consecutive years, they performed magic on their day. This year's spring, according to their predictions, will come early but erratically.
Baibaks are large rodents of the squirrel family that live in the Eurasian steppes. In the wild they hibernate in the winter, but in zoos they are often active all year round. When a mole lives in its natural environment, the predictions are clear: it crawls out of its burrow – it warms up, continues to sleep – spring does not come soon.
“According to the established tradition, every morning on February 2, zookeepers open the cage with bobbacks and place a bowl of delicacies next to it. Since under conditions of constant warmth and access to food, these animals do not hibernate deeply, their reaction to external stimuli serves as an indicator of weather trends. If the animals happily rush out to feed, spring promises to come quickly. If they are careful or ignore the food chores, winter will last longer than usual”, they explain the algorithm of actions and their interpretation in the exterior.
This year everything is not ordinary. The marmots behave completely opposite each other: Natasha and Seryozha have different views about the upcoming spring. According to the staff, this has never happened even once in all their years of forecasting – which, by the way, is quite accurate.
“Natasha, usually reserved, immediately jumped out of his hiding place and greedily grabbed the juicy delicacies. Seryozha behaved completely differently. He left the cage, then turned back, looked out of the hiding place and only a moment later joined his friend”, this is how the zoo staff describes the marmot's behavior of making predictions.
The employees of the exotarium explain the behavior of the boibaks in Groundhog Day as follows: spring “will fly to a banana quickly,” and the boy's uncertainty is a sign that winter will remind itself again and again with snowfall and frost.
By the way
The most famous oracle of the Tula Exotarium is the panda Gemma. Groups gathered to watch her prediction program. For example, she correctly determined who would reach the final of the 2012 European Football Championship.
