Happy Groundhog Day!

Today Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow and therefore predicted an early spring. Woo hoo! And it already felt like spring in Davis today, thanks Phil! No ice on my car this morning and I got to have class outside to enjoy the weather. I am so much happier and less sleepy when the sun is shining!

Unfortunately this picture was taken a couple days ago when the weather was not so nice, but for some reason it reminds me of groundhog day so I wanted to put it in. I have to start with some background on this one. This is part of Mace Ranch park, and part of a picture that was shown earlier. This entire area used to be a big open field, and it was a popular place for burrowing owls to come and build their nests. When this area started to be developed a bunch of people in Davis got mad because the burrowing owls were being killed or forced to leave their homes. So, in order to compromise this section of land was left untouched. I have yet to see a burrowing owl here, however. You will mostly see jackrabbits and squirrels. Since the area cannot be mowed (this will kill the owls) during spring goats are brought in to graze and clear all the grass out. The area pretty much becomes a petting zoo at that time because all the little kids really like the goats.

And it comes with another sign!