Happy Groundhog Day!

Well the most famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, didn’t see his shadow today which bodes well for an early spring.  Unfortunately, Punxsutawney is in Pennsylvania and about 3380 kilometers away so the spring he’s presiding over is not likely the same one we will have..

A bit closer,  Manitoba Merv saw his shadow.  He’s closer, 1300 km, away but he’s a puppet so I can’t put much stock in his call for a late spring.

So, for the Calgary area at least, it comes down to Balzac Billy.  Known as the Prairie Prognosticator, he saw his shadow today.  Looks like six more weeks of winter.  In Calgary, I think we’d be very happy to only have a month and a half of winter left.  We’ll see.

I don’t have any images of groundhogs but here is one of its cousins photographed in a tree in Sunshine Meadows along the Continental Divide in the Canadian Rockies near Banff.

Happy Groundhog Day!