Shubenacadie Sam says it's going to be an early spring

Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie Sam waddled out of his burrow this morning and did not see his shadow.

As the folklore says, this means an early spring.

However, groundhogs don't have a great track record for predicating the long-range weather forecast. According to a Canadian study looking at the past30 years, groundhogs were only right about 37 per cent of the time.

Shubenacadie Sam has the honour of making the first North American prediction of the day due to the province's time zone. Fellow Canadian prognosticating rodent, Ontario'sWiarton Willie, agreed with Sam's prediction of an early spring.

But Pennsylvannia'sPunxsutawneyPhil, made famous in the movie Groundhog Day,didn't agreewith Sam. That town's resident rodent spotted is shadow, indicating winter will stick around for another six weeks.