California relies on desert tortoise, not a groundhog, for spring forecast

• Around Thanksgiving, Maxine and her tortoise roommates typically enter brumation — when desert reptiles go into their insulated, underground burrows to sleep and survive cold winters.
• When she emerges, usually in February, it means springtime has arrived.
• The zoo also runs a contest for kids in neighboring counties to guess the date and win a field trip for their class.

Reality check: Do people in San Diego — or other warmer weather areas — pay attention to this tradition?

• A proposal: San Diego should designate its own mascot to predict how bad May Gray and June Gloom will be.
• Maybe the sea lions can tell us something?

Our thought bubble: Growing up on the East Coast, Groundhog Day was a big deal for us.

• While I've stayed curious about the rodent's prediction since moving here fairly recently, the holiday has fallen out of mind for Andy, and his kids aren't really familiar with Phil.