Getting sick and tired of winter? Well today is the midway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, making February 2nd Groundhog Day!
According to tradition, if a groundhog comes out of its hole on this day and sees its shadow, it gets scared and runs back into its burrow, predicting six more weeks of winter weather; no shadow means an early spring.
The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent belonging to the group of large squirrels known as marmots. They typically weigh 12 to 15 pounds and live 6 to 8 years.
Groundhogs spend the winter hibernating in their burrows, significantly reducing their metabolic rate and body temperature. By February, they can lose as much as half their weight. Groundhogs come out of hibernation for good in March.
When groundhogs are out and about, these rodents eat succulent plants, wild berries, and insects. And they don’t mind helping themselves to garden vegetables or agricultural crops.
Across Canada, there are many famous groundhogs to look for weather predictions.
The Groundhog Day concept first became popular in Canada in 1956 when Wiarton Willie became a household name for his early February weather predictions. Willie lives in Bruce Country, Ontario where this year’s 66th Wiarton’s Groundhog Day festival takes place as one of the largest winter festivals.
Shubenacadie Sam of Nova Scotia is the first groundhog to make a prediction in North America each year, as he lives in the Atlantic Time Zone.
There is also Canada’s French groundhog, Fred la Marmotte of Val-d’Espoir, Québec, who boasts the distinction of being “the first and only” groundhog to make its prediction in a Unesco Global Geopark.
Then, Chopper, Marlu and Van Isle Violet, are three Vancouver Island Marmots who predict the forecast in Nanaimo.
There is also Oil Springs Ollie of Sarnia, Ontario, Gary the Groundhog of Kleinburg, Ontario and Two Rivers Tunnel at Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
In Manitoba, Merv leads local Groundhog Day celebrations and claims to get 98% success rate on his predictions. Sure, he is a puppet, but he is also a local legend who resides at the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre.
Groundhogs are plentiful in most parts of Canada; they are not found in southern Alberta. Therefore, Balzac Billy the “Prairie Prognosticator” is a man-sized groundhog mascot from Balzac, Alberta.
So, unless the groundhog sees it shadow, get your T-shirts and sunglasses ready because spring is around the corner.