I used to think that the groundhog was a symbol of all things good in the world — a cute, cuddly rodent who made an appearance from his comfy home just to be a messenger for Mother Earth. Bill Murray’s masterpiece Groundhog Day cemented this feeling. The groundhog gave Murray’s character a second chance at life. Punxsutawney, Pa., was the luckiest town in the world for having this sweet guy as its mascot.

My years on this campus, however, have turned me to the other side. There is another animal that is the true champion of Ithaca: the squirrel. Here is why:

5. Ithaca is a college town, a gathering place for academics from across the globe. Linguistically and aesthetically — “squirrel” is a far more intellectual word than the highly unimaginative “groundhog” or its other name, “woodchuck.”

In fact, the squirrel shares etymological heritage with Ithaca, which was named after the Greek island of Odysseus. The name for the squirrel originally comes from that ancient language, as well — the Greek skiouros (shadow-tailed). This is perfect; the groundhog may or may not see its shadow once a year, but the squirrel incorporates a shadow into his everyday routine 365 days a year. Squirrels clearly have a work ethic that all students should admire.

4. No matter how well known Groundhog Day is today, the earliest reference only dates as far back as 1841, and Pennsylvania’s official celebration didn’t begin until 1886.

Ithaca, on the other hand, was founded in 1790, and squirrels were most definitely present at the establishment of our illustrious home or home away from home. If squirrels act like they own Ithaca, it is because they’ve been here long enough to hold property claims.

3. The squirrel has a much better tail-to-body ratio. With its big, bushy tail billowing behind it, Ithaca’s nut-loving friend looks like a fluff-ball. The groundhog, however, is stuck between species; it has the body of a cute hog but its tail is also much too small to complement its big-boned frame, the combination of which makes it more like a kickball than a fluff-ball.

2. The groundhog has a whole day (Feb. 2) devoted to it as an accurate predictor of the weather. Shadow and six more weeks of winter and all that, yet the groundhogs are accurate only 39 percent of the time (according to Stormfax Weather Almanac and the National Climatic Data Center).

Here in our infamously precipitation-filled city, we know better. The squirrels have no such arrogance about being able to predict the weather, especially for a city with as crazy weather as Ithaca. They simply live in harmony with whatever nature dishes up — role models for all of us who struggle to make that trek up the snow-covered Slope.

Plus, when you see the squirrels come out, it’s a pretty good hint that springtime has come. The little guys just don’t brag about their weatherman status like groundhogs do.

1. The squirrel is much friendlier than the woodchuck. I’m going to tell you a story … one particular squirrel has visited my grandmother’s porch in Virginia several times a week for at least the past five years. It impishly inches to the door and waits patiently until my grandmother brings out its ration. The squirrel is always appreciative and never greedy.

Some might say that the Ithacan race of squirrel is too bold, completely unaware that there are boundaries that rodents should never cross with humans. But these creatures do no harm! Just like my grandmother’s patio pet, the local Ithaca squirrels are just looking for some new friends. And aren’t we all?