Any Ground Hog Day according to a little historical research started in the United States with some German settlers bringing their tradition to the Pennsylvania. In Punxsutawney- little Punxsutawney Phil is the predictor. So in Canada, the tradition goes differently. There was a Candlemas Day in mid winter in England and Scotland during . Basically looking to see if the candles shone bright. But somehow they may have used hedgehogs to help predict the remainder of the winter. Since there were no hedgehogs in North America but lots of ground hogs and prairie dogs, they surfaced for the predictors. Since 1887 in Pennsylvania, little Phil has been making predictions. For some reason, a Canadian tradition started in Wiarton Ontario in 1956. Wiarton is on the Bruce Peninsula near Georgian Bay. In order to help with his job, Willie has a special little house in
town. Living in a burrow in the wild would leave him exposed to natural predators. In Canada many fields where there is a natural habitat would be covered with snow or ice so difficult to come out of the burrow during the winter. Besides helps with the tourists that like to visit the place near Bluewater Park to take pictures. Not to be outdone, Nova Scotia has their Shubenacadie Sam, Manitoba has Brandon Bob and Alberta has Balzac Billy. Although Billy may just be a man dressed like a groundhog. North of Calgary may be hard to find a real groundhog willing to participate! The prediction model remains the same. Remember Canada is a big, big country so weather can be different in different places.
So what is all the hoopla about?? It goes like this- if the groundhog regardless of the location comes out of his burrow and sees his shadow there will be 6 more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow, then there will be an early Spring. Meteorologists may confirm some truth to this tradition. Apparently colder, drier air form the Arctic would help with sunny days in winter thus colder. A snowy or overcast day may be slightly milder. However like most parts of Canada, weather can change from week to week.
My prediction? Well the first day of Spring is usually March 21st. So if February is cold and snowy, most Canadians hope for March to be warmer with Spring around the corner!! Ground Hog Day makes for lots of conversation. I can just hear people at work trying to outdo each other. If they know how to pronounce Punxsutawney Phil it would be interesting. Wiarton Willie or Brandon Bob or Balzac Billy are much easier. Shubenacaide Sam is up there with Phil. Regardless with January behind us and February here, we are 1 month closer to Spring. Ground Hog Day- a silly, fun little tradition in North America! What does the rest of the world think? Especially those Europeans who often do feel superior to us! Only in Canada eh! Not really U.S. too!
