What is the name of the Nova Scotia groundhog that predicts on February 2?

The Nova Scotia groundhog that makes a February 2 prediction is Shubenacadie Sam.

Sam lives at Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Because the province uses Atlantic Time, Sam traditionally makes one of North America’s earliest Groundhog Day predictions, at about 8:00 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time.

The ceremony follows the familiar shadow tradition: a shadow is associated with six more weeks of winter, while no shadow is taken to mean an early spring. The Shubenacadie tradition began around 1987, and several groundhogs have served under the same name as individual animals reached the typical 10-to-15-year lifespan of captive groundhogs.

Sam is sometimes confused with Wiarton Willie, the best-known Canadian groundhog, who predicts in Ontario. Nova Scotia also has another local predictor, Two Rivers Tunnel, at Two Rivers Wildlife Park in Cape Breton. Unlike many famous groundhogs, Sam is not normally awakened from hibernation for the ceremony.