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Staten Island Chuck: A Rodent Star is Born!
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 4, 2009
Modified Feb 4, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 4, 2009
Modified Feb 4, 2009
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After Staten Island Chuck, the Staten Island Zoo's weather predicting (on Groundhog Day, of course) groundhog, bit Mayor Bloomberg, causing a storm of media attention, the NY Times had to go back to the scene of the chomp: "He went rampaging across the stage in the zoo’s auditorium, knocking over a prop-size statue of a giraffe" and when he encountered a photo of Bloomberg, "Chuck rubbed his lips on the corner of the picture frame. He was not making nice — it looked as if he had bared his teeth." Still, Chuck's keeper, Douglas Schwartz, believes Chuck acted out because the small animal believed Bloomberg was taking away his food, a theory we believe since the mayor kept taking away Chuck's cob of corn. The zoo may trade this Chuck in for a younger edition (the zoo limits the groundhogs' stints to 3-5 years), but this Chuck has his fans—check out the Viva Chuck t-shirts.
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staten island chuck
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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