Groundhog stands like a human to check for his shadow

When Groundhog Day arrives, our little friend, Peterborough Percy feels the pressure. He's got to look around and make a snap judgement call about the weather that no experienced meteorologist would dare to make. He'll evaluate the situation and then make his way out into the world, or do an about face and go back to sleep while the rest of the country braces for six more weeks of winter.

It's a tradition that has been going on for decades and he knows he'll take the blame if he makes the wrong call. But most of us realize that he's no more able to predict the weather than the rest of us. If our cute little friend gives us bad news, we should thank him for the warning.

This is Peterborough Percy making his way out of his den, but it's actually footage from a warm, summer day. And the truth is that Percy, and other groundhogs are always checking fro their shadow or anything that moves. It's a year round habit. They are among the most cautious animals there are.

Percy nibbles the grass, looks at the camera, checks it out curiously and emerges from his hole only after seeing that nothing is moving. He stands up on his hind legs and resembles a little hairy human as he looks around. Only after he makes absolutely sure that the coast is clear will he venture out onto the grass to search for dandelions and young grass shoots.

This stationed GoPro provides us with a close up view of Percy's extremely adorable face. Groundhogs are actually very social creatures. They spend a lot of their day watching for predators and they will alert others to danger with a high pitched whistle. Scientists are now of the belief that their communication is a lot more complex than previously thought.

Groundhogs will retreat into their hole at the sight of a threat, but they are actually able to climb trees to escape too!