Google celebrates the arrival of winter, summer with new Doodles

Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Google welcomed the start of the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere with new Doodles on Tuesday.

Google's homepage, for those living in the Northern Hemisphere, features an animated hedgehog walking through the snow with his eyes closed.

The hedgehog additionally has pine cones and leaves on his back.

For those in the Southern Hemisphere, the Doodle features the same hedgehog walking and smiling while wearing sunglasses. The animal has fruit and tropical plants on its back as the sun beams down on him.

Google presents Doodles every year to mark the arrival of the winter and summer solstice.

The company celebrated both the winter and summer solstice in 2020 along with the great conjunction, a rare occurrence between Jupiter and Saturn where the two planets nearly overlap.