If the sight of a giant groundhog makes you want to break out in song, you are not alone.
For the second year in a row, Jeff Mottershead has erected a five-metre inflatable groundhog in the front yard of his Sapperton home.
“I'd been thinking for a while that I'm never going to win at Christmas or Halloween because they're all together too competitive, but Groundhog Day was one that I felt I had a chance at,” he said. “So, I'd been looking into whether you could get an inflatable groundhog.”
While he was sold on the idea of having a giant inflatable groundhog on his front lawn, he knew he’d “get in trouble” if he went ahead with that plan.
“I'm married,” he laughed.
But after returning from a back-country ski trip where “everything went wrong” – including cars going off the road – Mottershead decided he was going to go for it.
After some back and forth with a supplier about the inflatable’s specifics, Mottershead placed his order for a five-metre-tall and five-meter-wide), custom-made inflatable groundhog. For an extra $50, he couldn’t pass up on the opportunity for lighting.
“It was everything that I kind of dreamed it would be,” he said.
Mottershead had mentioned the groundhog in a written report to his outdoor club about the “disaster trip” that prompted the purchase. His wife, a professional editor, learned of his purchase when editing his report.
“She looks at me and was like: ‘Did you really buy a five-metre inflatable groundhog?’ I kind of hid under the covers and said, ‘Maybe,’” he recalled.
“She did her best to give me the business, but she couldn't stop laughing. ... I was like, ‘Just admit it: you're on Team Groundhog.’ She was like, ‘Yeah, this might be the stupidest thing you've ever done.’ And it's so not.”
It turns out, folks really dig the groundhog.
“People love it,” Mottershead said.
Last year, some people left groundhog-themed cards or photographs of themselves with the groundhog at Mottershead’s home. When the inflatable was taken down after Groundhog Day, an unhappy child left a drawing of a frownie face and a note asking the residents to bring “the hedgehog” back.
The most surprising response came from an unexpected source: groundhog carollers.
Mottershead was at work on Groundhog Day 2024 when a group of carollers visited his house. He soon began receiving texts about their visit.
“There are groundhog singers outside,” said one message.
A follow-up text noted: “They have a repertoire of groundhog carols.”
I’m Dreaming of the Great Groundhog (to the tune of White Christmas) is but one of the Christmas carols that have been repurposed for Groundhog Day celebrations.
Prior to the visit, Mottershead did not know Groundhog Day carollers existed – although he had joked about it to his wife when trying to convince her to join Team Groundhog.
“I said, ‘You'll fully realize this is the best idea ever when you hear the groundhog carollers,’” he recalled. “I had just said that; I didn't realize there was such a thing as groundhog carols. But they, in fact, showed up.”
Mottershead said his wife, now solidly part of Team Groundhog, created T-shirts so her husband and others could celebrate Groundhog Day.
Feb. 2 is Groundhog Day, a day that some believe indicates whether spring is on its way or more wintry weather is coming. The Old Farmers Almanac explains that if a groundhog (Punxsutawney Phil) sees its shadow on this day, it means there will be six more months of wintry weather; if it doesn’t, then spring is around the corner.
Mottershead’s giant (unnamed) groundhog recently reappeared in front of his Sapperton home in time for Groundhog Day 2025 – much to the delight of community members.
“I love that it’s back,” a jogger told the New West Record as he ran past the home. “It makes me happy.”
Mottershead knows the feeling.
“When we look at our kitchen window, we see like the top half of the groundhog’s head,” he said. “It makes me happy every morning.”
Mottershead is thrilled that the giant inflatable, which can be seen day or night outside his home at Alberta and Richmond streets, brings joy to community members.
“It makes people happy, which makes me happy,” he said.
