The secret life of Woodstock Willie the groundhog

Woodstock Willie is the star of the show on Groundhog Day, when she tells us if we’re doomed to six more weeks of winter.

But what does our local weather groundhog do the rest of the year?

As it turns out, our furry friend lives a quiet existence the other 364 – or, in 2024′s case, 365 – days of the year.

And her handler said she’s actually not so friendly.

Woodstock Willie – whose real name is Wendy – lives with her handler, Mark Szafran, in Wisconsin. She spends her winter months in semi-hibernation and eats a diet consisting of rat chow but also fruits and vegetables.

She is partial to bananas.

“That’s the first food she goes for,” Szafran said.

This contrasts with the mascot groundhog, who does not hibernate and even was the star of the show at a recent Windy City Bulls game, for which the team was renamed in honor of Woodstock Willie.

The game, which the temporarily renamed Willies lost, marked the official kickoff to Groundhog season.

Even though this Woodstock Willie is a girl, “they’re all Woodstock Willies,” said Szafran, who has brought the star attraction to the festival for several years.

Szafran said he feeds Wendy every other day since she won’t eat if she is fed daily.

He said the current groundhog is 6 years old, and the groundhogs typically don’t live more than 10 years or so.

But as cute as the animal appears to be, Szafran said, groundhogs are “vicious.” He has to wear gloves while handling the furry prognosticators and is the only one allowed to touch the groundhog.

He even has a scar on his finger from a groundhog bite.

“Getting bit by one of these is not fun,” Szafran said.

Sometimes groundhogs are more tame, but our current Woodstock Willie is not one of them.

Although the groundhog spends most of her time chilling, she has one big excursion every year: Woodstock’s Groundhog Days festival.

On the morning of Feb. 2, Szafran loads the animal into a crate, and they make the trek down to the Woodstock Square for the prognostication.

Szafran said he places the groundhog into the tree stump on the Square and, after she makes her forecast – which this year will be announced by none other than WGN-TV’s Tom Skilling – she hangs around for about an hour to an hour and a half so the crowd can see her and take pictures.

“[It’s the] only day she works,” Szafran said.

Szafran has been the handler for much of Woodstock’s festivities. His former boss, the late Bill Hoffman, was the handler when the “Groundhog Day” movie was filmed in Woodstock in 1992. The primary groundhogs in filming were a mother and son.

This year’s Groundhog Days prognostication festivities begin at 6:45 a.m. Friday with a polka band performing on the Woodstock Square. Willie is expected to emerge for her weather report about 7 a.m.

Ahead of the big reveal, other Groundhog Days events take place Thursday evening. For information, visit woodstockgroundhog.org.