At 123 years old, the oldest living meteorologist, Punxsutawney Phil — ”Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators” — emerged from his stump Monday and saw his shadow, declaring six more weeks of winter.But closer to home, Pierre C. Shadeaux made a much different forecast. In New Iberia, Shadeaux’s prediction pertains the length of spring rather than winter. Shadeaux, a nutria who leads festivities entitled “Cajun Groundhog Day” in New Iberia, emerged before a crowd of about 40 people and did not see his shadow Monday, which means a longer spring for Southerners dreading summer’s humid weather. “If he sees his shadow, it’s bad news. If he doesn’t see his shadow, it’s good news,” said Will Chapman, publisher of The Daily Iberian who began the yearly festivity in 1997. “Good news is putting off summer’s heat and humidity.”Punxsutawney Phil made his forecast to a crowd of about 13,000 who gathered in Gobbler’s Knob, about two miles out of Punxsutawney, Pa., for his yearly Groundhog’s Day appearance.According to legend, Phil seeing his shadow means another six weeks of winter while a lack of shadow means an early spring.But that forecast may mean little to Louisianians, as the state typically begins to see warm temperatures around 70 in the end of February, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Phil Grigsby.”Spring is very close,” Grigsby said in response to Phil’s forecast. “On average, we actually already are starting to see the normal highs warm up … We don’t get the extreme cold that they normally get up in the Northeast and Great Lakes.”Andy Reaux, veterinarian for Reaux Animal Hospital, said he and a friend in wildlife management are responsible for locating a nutria rat in the South Louisiana marshland in the two weeks leading up to Groundhog Day. “He’s already back in the wild,” Reaux said. “I thought it was something that I could do, and I kind of wanted to do. It’s kind of a fun thing.”But the more famous mammal meteorologist has an established relationship with his community.Michael Chapaloney, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Tourism Office, said Phil has open communication established with Groundhog club members.”The president [of the Groundhog Club] is the only one who speaks ‘Groundhogese,’ and he gets down and Phil tells him whether or not he saw his shadow,” Chapaloney said. “[Phil] was a little feisty this morning, but he was very well behaved.”Crowds of fans and media begin to gather Feb. 2 of each year at about 3 a.m., Chapaloney said. In the finals hours before Phil emerges from his stump, the sounds of live music and lights from fireworks fill the amphitheater. Chapaloney said Phil stays perpetually young with the help of the yearly doses of ‘elixir’ he receives at the summer Punxsutawney Groundhog Festival held annually in July. Marlene Lellock, director of the Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce, said Phil can become a grumpy critter despite the help of the elixir.”They’re wild animals. If they feel threatened, then they will react,” Lellock said. “And they do bite.”While Phil is considered a tame groundhog, Lellock said he tends to nip at his handlers whenever he tires. Nipping can often mean a blood loss for the handlers because of Phi’s sharp teeth, according to Lellock.”The [handlers] that don’t handle him quite often will wear their steel gloves,” Lellock said. —-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]