Wiarton Willie predicts early spring, but Fred, Sam and Lucy the Lobster disagree on Groundhog Day


Wiarton Willie has predicted at the beginning of spring after not seeing his shadow on Sunday morning on the day of the marmot.

Willie made the prediction to the “Wake Up, Willie” songs at 8:09 am on Sunday morning at Bluewater Park in Wiarton, Ontario, located 220 kilometers northwest of Toronto.

But its prediction does not coincide with those of other animals that forecast the weather:

  • Shubenacadie Sam, who lives in the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Nueva Scotia, saw her shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter.
  • Lucy the lobster in Barrington, NS, saw her shadow and predicted six more winter.
  • Fred La Marmotte in Quebec predicted six more weeks of winter.
  • Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania also predicted six more weeks.
Wiarton Willie is seen within his enclosure in Wiarton, Ontario, on August 17, 2024. The enclosure near the library was created with the help of the Toronto Zoo. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)

Wiarton, Ontario, is a city of approximately 1,900 people located in the Bruce Peninsula. Every year, it celebrates an annual festival that begins with a breakfast of pancakes and fireworks at 7 am, also celebrates with a weekend event that included skating with the Hockey Owen Sound Attack team, a curly bonspiel, a chili Cook-off, skating, a dart tournament and more.

This year’s festival continued despite the fact that the region saw a large amount of snow during the past week.

A crowd that is outside in the snow contains signs that protest the winter and ask for spring.
The Juerguistas show signs while waiting for Shubenacadie Sam to get out of their burrow at an event of the Marmota Day in the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Nueva Scotia on Sunday. Sam saw his shadow and predicts six more weeks of winter. (Darren Calabrense/The Canadian Press)

The mayor of the Peninsula of the city of South Bruce, Jay Kirkland, said the roads are clear after the “old snow event” the experienced this week and were ready for people to drive the city for the main event for the main event Sunday morning.

“I put the oath of the office on my neck and that allows me to be able to talk to the marmot and I hope we hear what it is at the beginning of this year’s spring,” Kirkland told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo’s’s The morning edition With host Craig Norris on Friday.

“We will keep our fingers, but we still have to let Willie decide,” Kirkland added, saying he didn’t want to guess whether Willie would see his shadow or not. “I am not the type of climate. I only helped direct the city.”

Marmot Day History

Marmota’s day was first marked in the US with a Punxsutawney Phil prediction in 1886, reports the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club website. The first official walk through the Gobbler’s knob was held on February 2, 1887.

Punxsutawney Phil is perhaps the best known marmot: has been predicting the climate more time and appears in the film Marmot Day Starring Bill Murray.

A man in a Tophat holds a land.
The Groundhog Club handler, AJ Dereume, has Punxsutawney Phil, the climate prostication grinder, during the 139th celebration of the Marmot Day in the Gobbler knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. Phil’s managers said the Marmota has predicted six more weeks of winter. (Barry Reger/The Associated Press)

The Marmota Day Tradition in Wiarton dates back to 1956. The city of South Bruce Peninsula says it was initiated by an “energetic individual” called Mac McKenzie who had “a desire to shake the winter blues and bring some warmth to the community “.

The municipality’s website says that McKenzie invited friends to go one night in the city to mark the day of the Marmota and sent a joke press release before a Toronto Star reporter who arrived in the city to inform about the event.

“In a moment of fantasy and spontaneity, when asked about the whereabouts of the Marmota, Mac playfully threw a snow skin hat,” says the city’s website.

“Taking advantage of the opportunity for a memorable photo, the reporter immortalized the hat as a substitute for the elusive Marmota.”

However, there has been controversy with Willie in the past. In 1999, the marmot was found dead only a few days before he had to take the stage for prediction. A funeral was performed, but a different body was used because the marmot had died weeks before and the body was not in a position to display.

In 2003, there were called that Willie’s caregiver was fired after it was discovered that she had covered the death of two filling marmotes that would have inherited the Willie title if the current one died. The two substitutes had been living in the same den as Willie. Marmots are instinctively territorial, which leads to suspicions that Willie had killed her roommates.

In 2017, another Willie died and his substitute “Wee Willie” assumed the role.

Then, in 2020, another Willie died, but his death was not announced until November 2021. The prediction of February 2021 was made by the then greatest Janice Jackson throwing a snow hat.

In 2022, a brown marmot was appointed as the next Warton Willie, but was then replaced in 2023 by the current White Whelog.

Several Canadian predictions

While Punxsutawney Phil is the OG (original Marmota), Canada has seen that several weather forecast animals bind to the crowd over the years.

  • Shubenacadie Sam, who lives in Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Nueva Scotia.
  • Lucy The Lobster, who lives in Barrington, ns
  • Fred la Marmotte in Val-d’espoir, which.
  • Wiarton Willie in Wiarton, Ontario.

Winnipeg Wyn was also, but she died in 2020.

Other “marmotas” that also offer predictions include:

  • Manitoba Merv, which is a cover of the puppet club/golf.
  • Balzac Billy Alberta, who is a person with a Marmota pet costume.
  • Okanagan Okie de BC, which is a stuffed animal.
A stuffed toy of a marmota in a rock outside
Okanagan Okie is at the top of ‘Marmot City’, a rocky hill with a view to the Northern Valley of Okanagan, near Vernon, BC, in the Allan Brooks Nature Center. (Cheryl Hood)

In 2024, the Toronto Gates Wildlife control company asked if the mapaches could be more suitable for the weather forecast.

“While Mr. Groundhog Hibernates, the Mapache is busy perfecting his prognosis skills and sailing through the concrete jungle,” the company said in a YouTube video.

“With its sharp intellect and adaptability, the Mapache proposes a modern approach for climate prediction, using discarded elements and urban observations instead of shadows. It is time for a meteorological revolution directed by the Mapache.”

While the idea was proposed, it does not seem that the company found a Mapache to provide a prediction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWSVSCVC10



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