Will winter end soon? Canadian groundhogs split on spring calls

Canada’s most famous groundhogs all agree on this Groundhog Day – but one thing.

Ontario’s Wiarton Willie doesn’t share the same prediction as his peers across the country. On Thursday morning, Willie called for an early spring.

His furry counterpart in Nova Scotia, Shubenacadie Sam, apparently saw her shadow as she emerged from a snow-covered enclosure at a wildlife park north of Halifax.

Folklore has it that if a marmot sees its shadow on Groundhog Day, then winter drags on. If it doesn’t discover its shadow, spring-like weather will soon set in.

In Manitoba, Merv called for six more weeks of winter. In the United States, Punxsutawney Phil also saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.

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Groundhog Day 2023: Shubenacadie Sam sees her shadow and predicts 6 more weeks of winter

Unfortunately, Fred la Marmotte died in Quebec before he could reveal his prediction for Groundhog Day 2023.

Event organizer Roberto Blondin said the famous marmot had no signs of life when he tried to wake it up last night. Fred la Marmotte probably died during hibernation, Blondin said. Fred was honored with a stuffed animal by organizers on Thursday.

In place of Fred, a prediction was made by a committee of volunteer children who confirmed that winter was coming for six more weeks.

Alberta’s Balzac Billy had one more prediction to make by 9:30 a.m. ET.

In Nova Scotia, Lucy the Lobster crawled out of the ocean at 8 a.m. local time at the Cape Sable Island Causeway and saw her shadow, organizers said.

In a playful, peer-reviewed study published by the American Meteorological Society, researchers at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario found that groundhogs are “without a doubt” no better at predicting the arrival of spring than they are to toss a coin.

– with files from Alex Cooke of Global News, Brayden Jagger Haines and The Canadian Press

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.