Sugar Grove Slim made his annual appearance at the Watauga Democrat office — a Groundhog's Day tradition.

It's something Jim Sparger has been doing for about 28 years, visiting local businesses to spread “groundhog cheer” with flowers. This year, his first stop was a nursery school.

“I always try to train (kids) properly in groundhog etiquette,” he said.

His companion, a taxidermied groundhog in handmade clothes that a friend gave him years ago, is a “distant” relation of Punxsutawney Phil, he said.

“Very distant,” Sparger said. “(Phil's) a Yankee. Slim's from Tennessee.”

Slim, Sparger said, saw his shadow “internally.”

“Six weeks of winter, this is Boone,” Sparger predicted. 

For Sparger, Feb. 2 isn't just another day.

“Groundhog's Day is one of the few days we celebrate that animals are smarter than we are,” he said.

Groundhogs, a rodent, Sparger said, are mostly known as road kill.

But they have some neat qualities, such as fast-growing teeth and claws.

“They can do a chunk out of you,” Sparger said. “But they're just fun to watch. They're basically vegetarian. They have their own little house, not a hole. Almost all rodents have different rooms.”

But they are wild animals and should be treated as such, he said, before moving on to Blowing Rock.

Punxsutawney Phil concurred with Slim — six more weeks of winter.

“What do you expect in Boone?” Sparger said.