Sunday is Groundhog Day and Wiarton Willie, Shubenacdie Sam and Puxatawney Phil will making their predictions for the arrival of spring. But we took to the turkeys in Bob McIntyre's weather garden to see what they think.
We know Bob’s Gobblers are out there because footprints could be seen in the snow. We watched them this week and they appeared to be making their way through the high snow in single file.
“There’s a hierarchy in turkeys – it’s usually the tom that will lead the pack,” says naturalist Bob Bowles.
Bowles says turkeys are relatively tough birds – but like many humans – winter can take a toll on them.
“A cold winter like this with colder temperatures means they’re going to go through more food and with the heavy snow it hides some of the food – so winter is hard on the turkeys.”
We know that the turkey has been around for millions of years, fossil records prove it, and if they’ve been around that long they know a lot about changing seasons. So when could spring arrive? According to CTV Barrie weather specialist Bob McIntyre it depends on how they stand on their legs.
“One foot up is still pretty cold for them to stand there – two feet down - we’re off to the races because it means we’re going to have an early spring.”
The Gobblers we saw spent a lot of time on just one foot – which could be a sign that winter is not going away soon.
“They’re telling you its cold out and it’s going to be cold for a while,” adds Bowles.
Bob’s Gobbles say it will be a little more than six weeks of winter to go – so it’s not going to be an early spring.
