WhatFinger


Children’s Gardening, Groundhog Day

Wiarton Willie, Punxsutawney Phil, Shubenacadie Sam



Last June was a disaster for British Formula One driver ace Anthony Davidson. And it was all the fault of a rodent. Positioned third in the 37th lap of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Davidson in his Super Aguri Honda made unplanned contact with a groundhog.

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Well, it may have been a woodchuck, whistle pig, ground squirrel or even a marmot. Or, if you want to get scientific, Marmota monax. By whatever name, it was not a beaver although media from New Zealand to England claimed such. Up in the small town of Wiarton near the base of Ontario’s Bruce Peninsular, a groundhog attains equal fame every 2 February – and lives to tell about it. Wiarton Willie, as he is known, emerges from his burrow on that morning. If he sees his shadow, so they say, there will be six more weeks of winter. Wiarton Willie does not always take kindly to being hauled from his home in mid-winter. Once, he tried to hide under a reporter’s car. On another even more memorable occasion he peed on the town mayor’s tuxedo. It is not surprising. There is no truth to the story. It didn’t even start with the North American groundhog. The legend of emerging on the second day of February and observing its shadow commenced with a completely different mammal from the central parts of Europe. Wiarton Willie and his fellow climatologists such as Shubenacadie Sam and Punxsutawney Phil often can’t even agree among themselves. Sounds something like humans, doesn’t it? Twentieth of March is usually said to be the first day of spring. According to scientists though, the northern winter ends 31st March. So, scientifically, spring arrives on April Fools Day . . . Groundhogs, Marmota monax, will come out of hibernation about that time. Found all across Canada except in Newfoundland, they burrow in or near pastures, parks, even gardens. Weighing as much as seven kilograms, it takes a lot to keep these vegetarians plump, up to half a kilo of food a day. Farmers are not fond of them because of this appetite and if one discovers the home vegetable garden, look out! They’ll pull down corn stalks to get at the cobs while adoring fallen apples and other tree fruit, even raiding melon patches to satisfy their sweet tooth. Since they can construct burrows as long as 10 metres, any fence must be buried at least 30 centimetres below ground and extend 60 cm above to keep them out of the garden. Sprinkling hot pepper on plants is also claimed to send Willie and his relatives elsewhere. The unfortunate driver Davidson ended in 11th place at the race’s finish. He was luckier though than new condo owners in Gatineau, Quebec a few years earlier. Construction of the new homes had evicted groundhogs from theirs and they didn’t like it. They bit through vehicle engine wiring, pulled insulation from beneath the hoods for their nests while keeping their strength up eating flowers around the condos. As a final insult, the owners could not remove or harm the groundhogs. The Quebec law left not a shadow of doubt.


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Wes Porter -- Bio and Archives

Wes Porter is a horticultural consultant and writer based in Toronto. Wes has over 40 years of experience in both temperate and tropical horticulture from three continents.


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