The BM1000 Don't Drive Angry Story While filming “Groundhog Day”, Punxsutawney Phil’s civic duties were cut short when Phil Connors stole a Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck and led police on a high-speed chase across the small Pennsylvania county. During the “Kidnapping Phil” scene, the groundhog repeatedly bit Bill Murray. “I was savaged by the animal, sure, but I’d been stuck in the time loop at that point for about nine years and I had built up a very high tolerance. Turns out you don’t die quickly from rabies in that predicament.” At one point, the groundhog became agitated and tried to climb over the steering wheel. Backstory: Bill Murray was bitten by the groundhog twice during Groundhog Day filming. Murray had to have anti rabies injections, because the bites were so severe. According to the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, groundhogs and North American beavers had rabies percent positivity similar to high-risk species, such as bats and raccoons, and constituted 97% of all rodent and lagomorph positive cases. Since the 1993 release of Groundhog Day, the trend in rabies cases in groundhogs has significantly declined.

Posted by venkmanatee at 2024-06-24 13:18:23 UTC