
Groundhog Day: Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam sees shadow, predicts long winter ahead
Nova Scotia’s celebrity groundhog, Shubenacadie Sam, is predicting a long, cold winter ahead.
The large rodent emerged briefly from her enclosure at a wildlife park north of Halifax this morning — Groundhog Day — and according to her handler, she saw her shadow.
As the door to her pint-sized barn opened, Sam poked her nose outside, sniffed a nearby carrot and promptly returned inside to avoid the brisk -12 C weather.
Folklore has it that if a groundhog sees its shadow on Feb. 2, it will retreat into its burrow, heralding six more weeks of wintry weather. No shadow is said to foretell the early arrival of spring-like temperatures.