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Wiarton Willie, Ontario’s beloved weather-prognosticating groundhog, has died.
The sad news was announced Tuesday by the Town of South Bruce Peninsula. It comes roughly three years after this iteration of Willie began carrying on the community’s Groundhog Day tradition started 70 years ago.
A statement from the town said Willie died peacefully in his sleep and the search for a successor will begin in the coming days.
“Willie was a curious and charismatic groundhog who delighted both residents and visitors,” it said. “Willie enjoyed basking in the summer sun, taking long winter naps and indulging in favourite foods.”
Appointed in 2023, he was the latest in a long line of groundhog weather forecasters that have attracted thousands of people to the annual Wiarton Willie Festival in early February.
Just last month, Willie predicted an early spring.
Willie is among the weather-prognosticating groundhogs in North America that emerge from their burrows every Feb. 2. Legend has it that if they see their shadows, there’ll be another six weeks of winter. No shadow is said to indicate an early spring.
Danielle Edwards, the Town of South Bruce’s manager of economic development, said the annual Wiarton Willie Festival “is a symbol of joy for residents and visitors alike.”
“Willie brought people together in the heart of winter to celebrate a tradition that put Wiarton on the map.”
It’s Groundhog Day, and Wiarton Willie has made his prediction about whether we’re getting an early spring or not. Watch what he decides at a ceremony in Wiarton, Ont., on Feb. 2, 2026.
Edwards said the festival is also a homecoming for families and people who grew up in Wiarton, which has a population of about 1,900, but no longer live there. It’s also a major contributor to the local economy during the winter months.
“It’s really special for Wiarton Willie to be known nationally and even in some circumstances internationally. We are very proud of Wiarton Willie and all he does for our community.”
Groundhog Day’s roots
Groundhog Day was first marked in the U.S. with a prediction by Punxsutawney Phil in 1886, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s website reports.
The first official trek to Gobbler’s Knob was made on Feb. 2, 1887.
The tradition in Wiarton began in 1956 as a bit of a joke. The Town of South Bruce Peninsula says it was started by a “spirited individual” named Mac McKenzie who had “a desire to shake off the winter blues and bring some warmth to the community.”
He invited friends out for a night on the town and put out a fake news release saying the event was to mark Groundhog Day. That joke release made its way into the hands of a Toronto Star reporter, who arrived in town to report on the event.
“In a moment of whimsy and spontaneity, when asked about the whereabouts of the groundhog, Mac playfully tossed a fur hat into the snow,” the town’s website says.
“Seizing the opportunity for a memorable photo, the reporter immortalized the hat as a stand-in for the elusive groundhog.”
Over the decades, there have been controversies involving Willie:
- In 1999, the groundhog was found dead just days before he was supposed to hit the stage for his prediction. A funeral was held but a different body was used because the groundhog had died weeks earlier and the body wasn’t fit to be on display.
- In 2003, there were calls for Willie’s caretaker to be fired after it was found she had covered up the deaths of two fill-in groundhogs that would have inherited the title of Willie had the current one died. The two understudies had been living in the same den as Willie. Groundhogs are instinctively territorial, leading to suspicions that Willie had killed his roommates.
- In 2017, another Willie died and his understudy, “Wee Willie,” assumed the role.
- In 2020, another Willie died but his death wasn’t announced until November 2021. The February 2021 prediction was made by the then mayor, Janice Jackson, tossing a hat into the snow.
- In 2022, a brown groundhog was named as the next Wiarton Willie. He was replaced in 2023 by the now-late white Willie.
