|
|
 Home  Xml
Feed  Submit Articles  Editor Login  Contact us |
 |
 |
|
|
Violence and controversy reared their ugly heads at the annual Groundhog Day ceremonies Monday. In a classic case of biting the hand that feeds him, Staten Island Groundhog Charles G. "Chuck" Hogg was coaxed out of his house, did not see his shadow and attacked Mayor Mike Bloomberg during the morning ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton. The cranky groundhog apparently bit the mayor on his gloved left hand and even drew some royal blood. The mayor seemed fine after the unprovoked attack, wrapping his hand and going on with his day. PIX spoke to mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser Monday afternoon and he confirmed there are no rabies worries as "Chuck" was raised in captivity and has never been around other animals. Later at an unrelated news conference, the Mayor addressed the attack: “Let me say this: For security reasons, there’s a limit to what I can say, but I think it is fair that whenever the people of Staten Island are at risk, the mayor is willing to put himself at risk, his physical well-being in harm’s way, to protect them,” Mayor Bloomberg said. He added, “Given the heightened response against terrorism, and clearly in this case a terrorist rodent who could very well have been trained by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, I’m not at liberty to say any more than that.” As for the controversy, the groundhog wars continued. As "Chuck" was looking at an early Spring, Pennsylvania fur ball Puxatawny Phil threw down the gauntlet, flaunting his own shadow and predicting six more long weeks of winter. Phil, considered to be the world's most famous groundhog saw his shadow with nearly 13,000 witnesses on hand at the annual event in Punxsutawney, PA. As for "Chuck's" prediction, the Mayor said, "If Chuck embarrasses us, this is going to be a very long winter for the Staten Island Zoo." And with all the Mayoral budget cuts announced this week, could Charles G. Hogg become the unkindest cut of all. Guess we'll have to wait 'till next year.
About the Author:
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Violence and Controversy Mar Groundhog Day
