A hoary marmot at Jasper, Alberta. Marmots are one of Alberta’s popular substitutes for groundhogs on Groundhog Day. Others include ground squirrels.
For those watching things closely today, it was another mixed bag of reports from our local forecasters in the Peace River country.
However, the majority of groundhogs (marmots for those being fussy – see accompanying story here below), say we are in for another six weeks of winter.
Why the differing opinions?
It all depended on what time your local furball peeked out of his or her burrow.
At 8:30 A.M. in the Peace, one could argue either way. With an overcast sky and a sun still not over the horizon any observer, human or otherwise, would have said there are no shadows. By 9:30, any animals waking up would have seen a faint shadow. And by 10:00 A.M. there was no question. The shadows were scaring those animals back into their burrows.
According to tradition, if a groundhog sees its shadow, it is so frightened (or tuned in to Mother Nature), it goes to sleep for another six weeks, snug in the knowledge spring will not arrive until then.
That’s good news for all the people who love their winters and winter sports. All kinds of hockey. Curling. Swimming in a heated pool.. Ice fishing. Building snowmen and tossing snowballs. Snowmobiling. Skiing downhill or cross-country. And all those indoor events it seems there is never enough time for in summer, all because of ‘chores’ outside.
Six more weeks is even good news for those people who it seems love spending time impressing on their friends and relatives how “awful” winter is. And how happy they are taking their usual “get away from the cold” trips to other parts of the world.
C’mon. What’s not to love about scraping ice off your vehicle windshield? Shovelling a metre of snow off your deck. Wondering how much damage your collapsed tarp shed did to the stuff stored inside, since the snow is so deep you can’t be bothered wading through to look. Or wishing you had put snow tires and studs on your vehicle. Or waiting for longer days so you don’t have to drive at night. You know, all that kind of fun stuff.
Just keep in mind if you get the blues, you can’t appreciate warm days until you have experienced the frigid ones. And days are getting longer, not shorter. And of course, there are only about 325 days or so until Christmas.
For our reports today, we thank our Weather Team in the Peace, in no particular order: Peace River Patty, Valleyview Virginia, High Prairie Harry, Wabasca Willie (No relation to Wiarton Willy in Ontario) Sucker Creek Samantha, Peavine Paul, Slave Lake Larry, Red Earth Richard, Widewater Willy (also no relation), Falher Freddy, Donnelly Donald, Triangle Tommy, Kinuso Kenny, Faust Freddie, Enilda Eddie, joined by Grouard Gary, Driftpile Denise, East Prairie Pauline, Trout Lake Tony, and last but not least, McLennan Mikey, Girouxville Gerry, and Nampa Noreen.
So what’s the deal with groundhogs in Alberta?
Did your local groundhog see his or her shadow?
If you are in Alberta, the answer might be a firm “No!” Or a strong “Yes!” And it has nothing to do with sunshine or weather.
The reason for that is fairly simple. In fact, it’s like asking somebody in Alberta if they caught any pickerel (a species of fish). Even though that answer should also be a firm “no,” the fact is, if somebody has caught (and released) several walleye, they will probably let you know with a “Yes. Fishing was great. Got our limit and let the rest go!”
So, in a roundabout way, even though the answer to both groundhog shadow and pickerel catching should be no, you will often get a strong “yes.”
The reason for the no? There are no pickerel in Alberta. As well, there are no groundhogs in Alberta. Although there are intermittent reports of groundhogs along the Saskatchewan border, there are only sightings. And no confirmed evidence, such as photos or even a carcass.
On the other hand, ground squirrels are often used as a reasonable substitute for Groundhog Day stories and predictions. Balzac Billy outside of Calgary honoured us with his prediction of six more weeks of winter. Billy is a ground squirrel. And of course, when people talk pickerel in Alberta, we know they mean walleye.
Many of us use the even closer relative of the groundhog (or woodchuck), the marmot. Which is our weather prognosticator of choice here in the Peace Country. Even if they are more inclined to be found nearer the Rockies, they can also be found in southern Alberta places like Lethbridge.
Stock photos of popular substitutes for groundhogs in Alberta
Articles by Jeff Burgar