An antsy groundhog named Jimmy nipped the ear of Sun Prairie, Wis., mayor Jonathan Freund as he announced that the groundhog had not seen his shadow, meaning spring is on its way. (Reuters)

Groundhog Day seems like a safe enough exercise. Creature emerges to see his shadow; winter is extended by six weeks. (Maybe.)

But Jimmy the Groundhog wasn’t going to make it simple for the people of Sun Prairie, Wis., this year, no sir. As Mayor Jonathan Freund leaned in to hear Jimmy “whisper” whether he had, in fact, seen his shadow, thus signaling another six weeks of winter, a terrible thing happened: Jimmy bit Freund’s ear.

Not cool, Jimmy.

Not cool at all.

Um, Jimmy, why would you do this? You are living large, by groundhog standards at least.

You even got to ride in a limousine on the way to Monday’s Groundhog Day event! Impressive, particularly for a rodent.

“He’s got it better than most of the animals here,” Jimmy’s caretaker, Jerry Hahn, told the Capital Times.

“He just tried to get his attention is all I can say,” Hahn told the Fond Du Lac Reporter.

[Groundhog Day 2015: Punxsutawney Phil sees shadow, predicts six more weeks of winter]

This particular Jimmy is actually Jimmy the 11th. “He’s got a little bit of an attitude,” Hahn told the Capital Times. “Jimmy the 9th and 10th were absolutely amazing. But then I’ve had some that were more or less man eaters.”

Then there’s the time Jimmy “relieved” himself on former Sun Prairie Mayor Joe Chase.

Even though Jimmy the 11th sort of sounds like a terror, these incidents aren’t the worst possible mayor-groundhog interactions (looking at you, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio).

So, how is Jimmy doing after Mike Tysoning the mayor?



Grumpy Jimmy. (Reuters)

“He’s doing really great today, other than he took a little nip out of the mayor’s ear,” Hahn told the Fond Du Lac Reporter. “But, you know, that’s part of being a mayor I guess.”

Without skipping a beat, Freund returned to his weather interpretation duties after The Bite and declared that Jimmy didn’t see his shadow, and that spring would therefore come early.

But there seemed to be a mix-up: Hahn told CBS affiliate WISC that the mayor may have misheard.

Which, to be fair, is possible for someone who just had his ear chomped by a giant rat-like creature. (Seriously, why are you putting your lobes near this thing?)

The city later released a statement that said the mayor is the official groundhog translator, and that although clear skies usually bring shadows and portend a six-week extension of winter, Freund was right.

“After a back and forth conversation with Jimmy this morning, the Mayor clearly confirmed Jimmy’s call for winter ending early,” the city’s Economic Development Director Neil Stechschulte said. “Jimmy the Groundhog was very adamant in his prognostication this year, as he leaned into the Mayor’s ear to make sure the Mayor heard him correctly.

“Mayor Freund stands by his translation, and we continue to put our faith in Jimmy the Groundhog.”

Hahn, who is retiring from his handling duties, has questioned translations by other mayors.

He wears a “magical red hat” that apparently allows him to understand the groundhogs.

One year, he recounted, Mayor John Murray declared spring was coming, despite the cloudless sky: “I looked at the mayor and I looked at Jimmy and I thought, ‘What the hell did you tell him?’ And then I grabbed the mic after he got done with his spiel and I tried to tell the audience that this mayor hasn’t been around that long and so he may have misinterpreted what Jimmy was saying.

“But it’s a lot of fun.”

Fun, sure, unless your ear gets bitten by a groundhog.

[A groundhog cannot predict weather patterns. It’s time to take Punxsutawney Phil down.]