Wondering if we’re in for another six weeks of winter? You’ll have to wait until Tuesday to find out. The groundhog that appeared Sunday at Starved Rock State Park was in no mood to prognosticate.

Wanda the Groundhog was a celebrity guest at the park, where about 20 visitors came to get a peep (no touching, please) at the species most closely associated with winter forecasting.

Molly Craig, director of animal pathways at Anderson Humane, a wildlife rehabilitation center, introduced Wanda as one of five orphaned pups rescued in hopes of reintroducing them into the wild after they’d reached adulthood.

“It’s always with the intent to release them back out into the wild,” Craig said. “Unfortunately, Wanda was far too habituated to be safely released into the wild.”

So it was on to Plan B: make Wanda an “ambassador animal” to be shown at programs to teach interested persons about the species.

Groundhogs go by a variety of nicknames, including woodchucks. No, they don’t actually chuck wood; Anderson Humane said that’s the most-asked question at their programs.

Groundhogs are actually shy and not geared to confrontation – they’ll bite only when cornered – though they have a poor reputation with gardeners for munching on produce. Anderson Human recommends sprinkling chili flakes around the perimeter of a vegetable garden – groundhogs hate the stuff – to keep them away.

As far as forecasting, the tradition of predicting more winter dates back to Germany and was brought to the United States by the Pennsylvania Dutch, explained Dee Patel, an educator for Anderson Humane. Initially, a groundhog’s shadow was thought to portend four more weeks of winter, but the tradition evolved into six weeks.

Actually, a few European cultures have traditions of anticipating the duration of winter, in part because Groundhog Day falls on the Christian feast of Candlemas. Patel said it was believed that if the feast day was mild, weather-wise, it indicated a swifter end to the cold and snow.

Whatever the roots of Groundhog Day, Wanda is much in demand these days.

“She is a popular lady this time of year. It’s a combination of the Punxsutawney Phil phenomenon, as well as the Bill Murray movie and all of that. It has become a very impressively popular holiday.

“So we are very happy to be able to celebrate that and have her use this opportunity to really teach about the species.”