Shubenacadie Sam


Shubenacadie Sam is a famous Canadian groundhog who lives at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in the town of Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Sam's shadow is closely observed at 08:00 AST to make the traditional prediction whether there will be an early spring. Due to Nova Scotia's Atlantic Time Zone, Sam makes the first Groundhog Day prediction in North America.
The prediction ceremony is heralded by a bagpiper and town crier and draws an early-morning festive crowd of families and visitors.

History

The Shubenacadie Sam tradition began about 1987 and differs from most other famous groundhogs as he is not woken from hibernation for Groundhog Day. Shubenacadie Sam most recently predicted an late winter at his appearance in February 2019. Four ground hogs have served as "Shubenacadie Sam" since the practice began in Nova Scotia, as groundhogs usually live 10 years in captivity. The current Sam was born in 2006. Park employee Carole Custance has been the caretaker for Shubenacadie Sam and the park's groundhogs for almost 17 years. She provides breakfast for the groundhog, usually yogurt and melon. Custance also reads to the groundhog who has been designated an advocate for Family Literacy Day. Shubenacadie Sam usually draws around 200 spectators for his prediction..

Past predictions

Controversy

In 2018, Sam bit the finger of CBC reporter Brent Ruskin when the reporter grabbed the groundhog to stop Sam from climbing out of the groundhog enclosure.

Background

While Shubenacadie offers the earliest prediction every year, it is one of many towns throughout North America known for their winter-predicting groundhogs. The most famous is Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The most famous Canadian is Wiarton Willie. Sam shares the Nova Scotia prediction every year with "Two Rivers Tunnel" in Cape Breton at the Two Rivers Wildlife Park in Mira River, Nova Scotia, although "Two Rivers Tunnel" is awaken for its prediction just after 11 am instead of 8 am. Shubenacadie Sam's prediction, like all weather-predicting-ground hogs, bears little relation to seasonal weather trends as it is based on random location conditions, according to Meteorologist Cindy Day. Shubenacadie Sam has an accuracy rate of about 45%, according to Day, compared to 39% for Punxsutawney Phill and 25% for Wiarton Willy. Other Canadian groundhogs include "Brandon Bob" of Brandon, Manitoba, and "Gary the Groundhog" in Kleinburg, Ontario. Promoters of a lobster festival in Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia created a "Lucy the Lobster" ritual for the first time in 2018 with a lobster that crawls from the water to a lobster trap on Groundhog Day.