This year, Mother’s Day was celebrated by families of all kinds, including furry families. That’s right, a very popular Pennsylvania power couple had some celebratory news to announce in honor of the Mother’s Day holiday.
As CBS News reports, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle announced on Facebook that two names had finally been chosen for Phil and his wife, Phyllis’ new babies, who were born in March. Tom Dunkel, the president of The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, and Vice President Dan McGinley read the news proclamation in a video.
“Born to royalty, a boy and a girl, names have been chosen to share with the world. Welcome with us as we say hello to little girl, Sunny and a boy, Shadow. With pride and joy as the kids play, from Punxatawney, happy Mother’s Day!” McGinley read, appropriately, from a scroll.
After the pups were born in March, members of the public submitted hundreds of name suggestions, according to TMX, which were reviewed by the club.
This is the current Phil’s first time being a father, even though there has been a long line of Punxsutawney Phils who’ve emerged to see their shadows since 1886. That means these babies are not Phil’s replacement, McGinley told the Associated Press.
“They’re not the heir apparent,” he said. “Sunny and Shadow will not be part of the ceremony — it’s still Phil’s job. There’s still only one Punxsutawney Phil.” On Feb. 2, 2024, Phil made the rare prediction of an early spring after not seeing his shadow.
If you’d like to see the furry family up close, the public can visit Punxsutawney Phil and his new family in their climate-controlled burrow at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
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Photo Credit: KLiK Photography / Shutterstock.com