Nova Scotia’s favourite groundhog Sam had been gearing up to make his big decision in front of a crowd of friends at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park, but it seems Mother Nature had other plans. A weekend storm meant the Groundhog Day festivities were cancelled, but Sam wasn’t going to let a little snow ruin his time to shine. At 8 o’clock Sunday morning, live streamed for all the folks at home, Sam waddled his way out of his house for the big reveal … six more weeks of winter. Womp, womp. At least Sam couldn’t hear the chorus of disappointed boos from his viewers.
In a surprising turn of events, after coming back out of his burrow Sam spent the morning causing mischief and knocking over his “Uh oh! I did see my shadow” sign. So maybe he’s having second thoughts? We can’t blame him when he has the pressure of being the first groundhog in North America to make a decision each year.
Let’s see what the other groundhog celebs had to say.
You can put Punxsutawney Phil right next to Kim Kardashian in the record books for breaking the internet. This critter’s prediction was so popular that his livestream went down! Tech issues aside, Phil predicted an early spring for Pennsylvania residents who haven’t had much snow to speak of this year.
Even surrounded by fans and flashing cameras, Ontario’s Wiarton Willie didn’t see his shadow Sunday morning amongst all the snow, seconding Phil’s prediction for an early spring.
North Carolina’s Queen Charlotte wasn’t very happy to be woken up for prediction-time, but quickly agreed it was time for an early spring.
Closer to home, PEI’s Charlottetown Groundhog agreed with Sam, so maybe it’s just us Atlantic Canadians who will be stuck with more winter this year!
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Cindy Day is the chief meteorologist for SaltWire Network
