The actor Al Pacino was 83 when he welcomed his fourth child. The rock star Mick Jagger was 73 when he had an eighth. And the meteorologically gifted rodent known as Punxsutawney Phil became a father for the first time at age 138.
This is the first time that Phil, who is canonically immortal, has procreated. Maybe there’s no biological impulse to expand your bloodline when you’re drinking a magical elixir that keeps you alive forever.
No one even knew Phyliss was expecting.
“We were not prepared for babies, but we are very excited for the babies,” the club’s executive director, Marcy Galando, told The Washington Post on Thursday.
We have Babies!! The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club is very excited to announce that Phil and Phyllis have given birth to...
Posted by Punxsutawney Phil on Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Before fatherhood, Phil got his start in marketing. The Post reported that the idea of a groundhog predicting seasons, as told by the National Centers for Environmental Information, began as a ploy to sell newspapers. Clymer H. Freas, city editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit, was inspired by a group of local groundhog hunters he called the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. In 1887, he wrote that a weather-sensitive woodchuck would predict climate patterns.
Thousands of people now travel to Punxsutawney, Pa., every Feb. 2 to see the world-famous woodchuck predict whether Americans will see an early spring or six more weeks of winter. (If you wonder how anyone can understand his message, that’s fair. He announces whether he has seen his shadow by speaking Groundhogese, a language only understood by the current president of the club’s Inner Circle, according to the group.)
A member of the Inner Circle discovered the babies during a feeding last weekend, she said. In a video shared by the club, the progeny wiggled around in wood shavings as Mom and Dad kept a close eye just off-screen.
The sexes of the pups are not known, as the veterinarian had yet to visit at the time The Post spoke to Galando, and they have yet to be named. Galando said it was not yet clear how their names would be chosen. (May The Post suggest: Philomena, Philmon, Phylicia, Philippa, Philopateer.)
It seems unlikely the children will inherit the family business, because there’s no need for succession when head of the family never dies. Phil consumes his elixir each September during the city’s “Phil Phest,” each sip adding seven years to his life. Galando said she did not know the total number of years he has banked.
“We will continue to have one Phil,” she said.
Phil has had a partner since the 1970s, Galando said. All of them have been named Phyliss. When asked how he explains to this Phyliss that he has only ever married women with the same name, Galando said: “He knows how to work it, I’m sure.”
Fair.
It is unclear how many Phylisses he has wed over the years, or whether they had weddings. The FAQ on the club’s website offers sparse information about his wife: “Yes, her name is Phyliss. She doesn’t receive the Elixir of Life so she will not live forever like Phil.”
Gotcha. (Without magic, groundhogs usually live three to six years in the wild but have made it to 14 in captivity, according to Tufts University.)
When asked why Phyliss couldn’t take a sip, Galando was adamant: “It wouldn’t work for Phyliss. It only works for Phil.”
This all amounts to a classic tragedy, the likes of “Tuck Everlasting,” “About Time” or “The Time Traveler’s Wife”: Phyliss, and the children, will die before Phil unless Phil stops sipping. Their paths will diverge. Only Phil will live on.
What is known is that Phil will outlive his wife. And maybe his children. And possibly all living humans.
For those who want to view the players in this romance-cum-Shakespearean tragedy, Punxsutawney’s phirst phamily can be seen through the viewing window of the Punxsutawney Memorial Library, at 301 E. Mahoning St., Suite 4, Punxsutawney, PA 15767, Phil’s World.
Maybe bring Phil some of his favorite things: a banana or an apple or a check with the city’s name on it.
