It’s déjà vu all over again. On the morning of February 2, a groundhog (Marmota monax, if you please) named Phil poked his head out of his burrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and looked around, as he has for the past 128 years. Phil scanned the ground for his shadow—the telltale clue to whether winter would linger or be displaced by an early spring.

Phil saw his shadow. Brace yourself for six more weeks of winter.

Despite living in a hole, Phil is remarkably tech-savvy; he has all four feet squarely planted in the digital age. "You can start the Twitter hashtag #sixmoreweeksofwinter," he reportedly said.

But is Phil—or any groundhog, for that matter—really acting as the Oracle of Spring when he pops