Groundhog or woodchuck? Actually, it's a whistle pig and it predicts 6 more weeks of winter

A woodchuck named Winnipeg Wynpredicted her city will get at least another six weeks of winter weather during a Groundhog Day ceremony at Fort Whyte Alive Friday morning.

But wait, you might say. What's a woodchuck doing making predictions on Groundhog Day?

"She's actually both. A woodchuck is a groundhog," Sheila Smith, co-founder of the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, said in an interview on CBC's Information Radio.

Groundhogs have also been called whistle pigs, said Smith, who is Winnipeg Wyn's handler.

"They have a very shrieky loud screech when they're threatened or feel in danger. They will scream out and warn the other woodchucks in the neighbourhood," she said.

Wyn'sprediction is at odds with another Manitoba weather prognosticator. Groundhog puppet ManitobaMerv,at Oak Hammock Marsh,called for an early spring.

Instead of the traditional prediction method of watching to see whether Wyn sees her shadow and runs back into her hole, thus signalling six more weeks of winter, Smith's group focused on her behaviour in her enclosure.

"Is she very sleepy, not motivated, doesn't eat much, doesn't come out?If we go into her animal space is she very active?" Smith said.

Winnipeg Wyn enjoys breakfast

7 years ago

Duration 0:53

A woodchuck named Winnipeg Wyn visited with CBC Information Radio's Marcy Markusa Friday morning, before her prediction of 6 more weeks of winter.

A lethargic Wynsignalled a longer winter, while an active woodchuck would have suggested a shorter winter.

Smith said there is a lot humans can learn by observing animals.

"It teaches us about the animal, what it needs, as well as the environment the animal lives in," she said.

We look for robins arriving in spring and geese heading south in the fall for indications about coming changes in the weather, for example, she said.

For those who missed her atFort Whyte Alive, Wyn will visit the Children's Museum from noonto 4 p.m.

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