Darth, a Twitter account that has been posting wholesome and mostly animal-themed content since March 2007, has returned from its annual hibernation today to the delight of its 230,000 followers. Each winter, Darth shuts down during the colder months, and so its return humorously signals the beginning of spring to many. The account, which was one of the mainstays of early Weird Twitter, is in many ways the internet’s own groundhog.

hello

what did i miss tell me i am all ears

tell me pic.twitter.com/7TrDD17dZm

— darth™ (@darth) March 21, 2022

Darth announced this winter’s hibernation five months ago, making it one of the longest the account has ever taken. The return of the anonymous poster, whose profile picture is a red panda in a Star Wars costume mashup of Darth Vader and Baby Yoda's crib, was anxiously awaited by many online who reacted excitedly.

now it is the time
to hibernate for winter
stay safe and be good pic.twitter.com/3jJovwMB97

— darth™ (@darth) November 13, 2021

summoning circle, hope this works

🐶
🥔 🍟
🐶 @darth 🐶

🐕 wake up from 🐕

🐶 hibernation 🐶
🍟 please 🥔
🐶

— Soft Side (@SoftSide1) March 20, 2022

Darth is widely followed by the first wave of users to ever get on Twitter due to its age, but also by a number of influential media figures with blue checkmarks.

The announcement post quickly racked up engagement this morning as followers replied to the tweet with updates per the account's request. CNN’s Jim Acosta was one such user, who shared a cute photo of his dog, filling in Darth on what they may have missed during hibernation.

I got a puppy. His name is Duke. pic.twitter.com/ID60AnQ7e3

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) March 21, 2022

Other people took the chance to share life updates with Darth. The account responded to a few of them, in its characteristically wholesome fashion.

omfg

— darth™ (@darth) March 21, 2022

darth, we're moving out of SF and headed to Chicago. I already know we can get great potatoes at Kanela's Breakfast Club, and we have a lot of friends waiting for us. I'll keep following you for all of your wonderfulness.https://t.co/VQzWdgzfu8

— Chuff 🏳️‍🌈 says GET VACCINATED AND WEAR A MASK (@chuff_sf) March 21, 2022

Darth while u were hibernating I started running for Ohio Statehouse https://t.co/F5nSpLHTks

— Daniel Ortiz for State Rep (@OrtizForToledo) March 21, 2022

Some posters shared animal-related world news developments with Darth, informing them of the war in Ukraine.

Welcome back! You missed incredible pet owners in Ukraine carrying their pets to safety. https://t.co/tpNG4Q7gUK

— Katherine 🌻 #IStandWithUkraine (@KMR31871) March 21, 2022

Darth’s return means not only the beginning of spring, but the continuation of early Twitter. Darth began posting in 2007 when the platform was only one year old and is still posting now when it is over 16 years old. The tone and scale of Twitter has changed quite a lot since then, but Darth’s brand of cute animal pictures and personalized replies to followers remains attractive.

This spring and summer will mean more of Darth’s trademark wholesome content, large fluffy dogs and random philosophical musings, which will continue until the weather gets cold and the account goes into hibernation once again.

dinosaurs are older than the grass
there was no grass when the dinosaurs were all walkin roundhttps://t.co/6j00JbA5iX

— darth™ (@darth) November 11, 2021

I HAVE GOT U HUMPHREY MY FREN pic.twitter.com/rS8SpV0t62

— darth™ (@darth) April 19, 2021