Although Fred the Groundhog heralded the start of spring in Val d'Espoir, Quebec, we celebrated Groundhog Day with penguins in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
With no groundhog to keep up the tradition, the Milwaukee County Zoo put its penguins to work on Friday.
February 2 marks Groundhog Day. According to superstition, if the beast comes out of its hole and sees its shadow, the winter will last six weeks; Otherwise, it indicates the beginning of spring.
For the second time since 2018, the zoo had to celebrate the day without its favorite animal. Unfortunately Gordy the groundhog died shortly after announcing the long winter in 2023, as he did in 2017.
This year, the Penguins had the opportunity to announce the arrival of spring in front of the crowd of spectators who gather for the event each year. Indeed, like the marmots, these birds did not see their shadows when they came out of their burrows last Friday.
“The zoo is a little limited by the animals that may or may not come out at this time of year; “A lot of them are in their winter habitat,” said Alex Weyer, the zoo's bird curator, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In 2018, the zoo replaced Gordy's predecessor with the services of their polar bears.
