Quebec's famed groundhog Fred la Marmotte has died; child stands in for Groundhog Day
Quebec's famed groundhog Fred la Marmotte has died; child stands in for Groundhog Day
The Quebec rodent whose job it was to predict whether spring would arrive early, Fred la Marmotte, died the day before Groundhog Day.
"This year, it's true. It's sadly true," said la Jour de Marmotte committee organizer Roberto Blondin on the event's livestream. "I'm announcing the death of Fred."
Blondin said that the nine-year-old groundhog did not wake up when organizers went to check on him last night.
The event continued in Val d'Espoir, Que., near Perce in the Gaspe peninsula, however, with a child chosen to stand in for Fred and give the annual prediction.
Blondin pulled a stuffed marmot from Fred's log cabin and handed it to a child who decided whether spring would be coming early.
"Spring is delayed," the child announced.
Blondin said next year Fred Junior would return.
CONFLICTING GROUNDHOG FORECASTS
Other weather-predicting groundhogs made the same prediction as the child holding the stuffy in Quebec, but not all of them.
It's that time of the year again, where check in with some rodents and in some cases, other creatures for their take on the weather. According to Fred la Marmotte and Shubenacadie Sam - we're in for six more weeks of winter! #GroundhogDay2023pic.twitter.com/P1RH9rwgzd
When two skiers collided on a beginner run at an upscale Utah ski resort in 2016, no one could foresee that seven years later, the crash would become the subject of a closely watched celebrity trial.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered a brief initial response to the final report from the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) into Canada's worst mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 22 people in Nova Scotia in 2020. Vowing changes will come, here's what Trudeau said in Truro, N.S.
The federal Liberals are trending downward on three key measures while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has surpassed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when it comes to the question of who Canadians would prefer now as their prime minister, according to Nanos Research.
A coroner has denied a request from a former Toronto police officer to explore a theory that a distraught teen he shot was committing "suicide by cop."
U.S. authorities are investigating a group of people swimming toward a pod of spinner dolphins off Hawaii's Big Island. The department alleges that the swimmers were 'harassing the pod' as the dolphins were swimming away.
A Toronto man, whose neighbours vanished eight years ago and left their home completely abandoned, said he's fed up living next door to a property that is in complete disarray.
A coroner has denied a request from a former Toronto police officer to explore a theory that a distraught teen he shot was committing "suicide by cop."
Two-and-a-half years after it was established, Nova Scotia’s Mass Casualty Commission has recommended sweeping changes to everything from gun control to mental health services, although there’s no guarantee any will ever be implemented.
When the store manager at La Noisette Bakery arrived Thursday morning to open the small shop on Oxford Street, she discovered that one of the two large circular windows at the side of their building was shattered.
A 2021 plane crash at the Westlock Airport was caused by an "unstable visual approach" to the landing runway, a Transportation Safety Board investigator has found.
A 15-year-old girl shot to death in the community of Martindale early Tuesday morning, has now been identified by friends and police as Sarah Alexis Jorquera.
The Windsor Police Service’s Arson Unit is asking for the public’s help identifying two suspects after police say they intentionally set fire to the former Mission Thrift Store.
A Saskatoon murder trial is being adjourned to allow police to follow-up on "significant information" that just came to the Crown prosecutor's attention Wednesday.
A community-focused historian has found several potential ancient artifacts along the Saskatchewan River, including a bison bone that is over 8,000 years old.
