It was a dramatic day for the prognosticating rodents of Canada.
Shubenacadie Sam, Nova Scotia’s most famous groundhog, saw her shadow at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park on the morning of Feb. 2, signalling another six weeks of winter. Meanwhile, Ontario’s Wiarton Willie’s shadow, or lack thereof, stands in stark opposition to Sam’s prophecy. Thus splitting the debate on whether we can expect an extra long winter (I suggest we split the difference and say we have only three more weeks of winter).
And Fred la Marmotte, Quebec’s groundhog, full on died the night before. He was nine years old. We’re not sure if that means there will be no more winters ever in Quebec, or a perpetual one.
A typical groundhog’s lifespan is two to six years (even longer in captivity) so it’s safe to say that Fred had a good run. But, Fred’s passing makes one wonder: Why have Nova Scotians never heard of Shubenacadie Sam kicking the proverbial bucket?
In 2018, The Coast broke the hard-hitting story that there have been multiple Sams in the wildlife park’s 30-plus-year history of Groundhog Day predictions—in other words, Shubenacadie Wildlife Park has, for many years, been pulling off the equivalent of parents replacing their kid’s goldfish that died overnight with a new one.
What officials wouldn’t tell me at Thursday’s ceremony is what they did with the little groundhog bodies of past Shubenacadie Sams. It’s probably the compost pile, but I like to imagine there’d be some sort of groundhog funeral.
Think about how cute that funeral would be. It would be like the opening scene in The Lion King, and all the other animals from all over Shubie would be there and have their own roles. A gaggle of otters could be pallbearers, a moose would provide a eulogy and the deer and bears would be crying real tears as the latest iteration of Shubenacadie Sam, their friend, is lowered into its tiny, groundhog-sized grave by a pack of coyotes. Predator and prey, mourning together. It’s hard not to get misty-eyed just thinking about it.
The current Shubenacadie Sam’s appearance on Thursday was very brief. Maybe it’s because she sensed there was some weirdo amongst the crowd asking park officials what her funeral would look like. Maybe she was grieving her Quebecois counterpart. Maybe it was because it was -20 degrees outside and she was previously sleeping in her heated enclosure. She was out, and back in, in a matter of minutes.
With Fred la Marmotte’s death and Sam and Willie’s contradicting conclusions, it’s safe to say that Groundhog Day 2023 will cast a lasting shadow on the annual weather-predicting rodent tradition. But we must never forget Groundhog Day 2014, when New York mayor Bill de Blasio dropped the local groundhog, Staten Island Chuck, causing it to die a week later from internal injuries. Oof.
So here’s to Staten Island Chuck, Fred la Marmotte and another six weeks of winter. Happy Groundhog Day.
This article appears in Feb 1-28, 2023.