White and coloured rodents agree on early spring

Yes, folks, it's Groundhog Day... again. Furry seers on both sides of the World's Longest Open Border have been dragged out of their burrows -- cages, actually -- to blink in the sunlight... or not. American readers will be familiar with Punxatawney Phil, the one shown in the eponymous movie. [No. You could only say "eponymous" if the movie had been named "Punxatawney Phil", not "Groundhog Day". Ed.] Bah! You know what I mean...

I just want to say that, having seen the animal in the movie, our American readers may think that groundhogs are brown. That's true, but the Canucks have their own polar groundhog, not tawny like Phil (geddit?), but white! The Weather Woodchuck of Wiarton ON is called Wiarton Willie, and here's what he looks like.

Wiarton Mayor Janice Jackson was joined by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his "shadow cabinet" (geddit?) this morning for the announcement of Willie's forecast. The event was not without its share of excitement, however, when Ms Jackson misinterpreted the portent. She initially told the town crier that the rodent had seen his shadow, meaning spring was on the way. But by the time Willie was coaxed out of his den, the sky was cloudy, so, no shadow.

Punxatawney Phil also made an appearance this morning with his top-hatted handlers before a huge crowd at Gobbler's Knob PA, and likewise predicted an early spring.

There is another groundhog, colour unknown, further east, in Shubenacadie NS. They're on Atlantic Time there, so Sam is always the first groundhog in North America to make a prediction about how long winter will last, with Willie and Phil weighing in about an hour later. Sadly, the festivities at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park were cancelled this year due to a blustery snowstorm that hit the region last night.

[That's enough groundhogs. You're straining the spell-checker. Ed.]