WGeneral Beauregard Lee is a whistlepig that resides at the Dauset Trails Nature Center in Jackson, Georgia, United States, just south of Atlanta. He previously resided at the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta up until it closed in December 2017. He received a tongue-in-cheek certificate from a faculty member at the University of Georgia- "DWP, Doctor of Weather Prognostication" - not an honorary degree as is often reported. Georgia State University also awarded him the "Doctor of Southern Groundology." He has been predicting early springs or late winters for many years and the Game Ranch claims a 94% accuracy rate. However, he has had some major misses. In 1993 he predicted an early spring but Georgia was hit with a blizzard that crippled the Southeast for nearly a week and a half, sometimes called the "Storm of the Century." And in 2014, he again predicted an early spring, but Georgia was later hit with a second major ice storm, following one that had hit just before Groundhog Day. This second one hit on February 12, only 10 days after the prediction. In 2016, he predicted an early spring.
WGroundhog Day is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks; but if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.
WLady Wonder (1924–1957) was a horse that was purported to have psychic abilities. Over 150 thousand people came to consult the horse at the price of three questions for one dollar. Lady Wonder is said to have helped the Massachusetts police to find the body of a missing boy, to have predicted that Jack Dempsey would defeat Jack Sharkey in 1927, and to have helped discover oil. Lady Wonder's trainer, C.D. Fonda, raised the horse on a bottle. The horse was trained to operate a device consisting of levers that activated alphabet cards.
WParrot astrology or Parrot fortune-telling is a type of astrology popular among the Tamils of Tamil Nadu, Telugus in Andhra Pradesh, India and Singapore. It involves using green parakeets which are trained to pick up Tarot like fortune cards. The parakeets are trained specifically for this.
WPaul the Octopus was a common octopus used to predict the results of association football matches. Accurate predictions in the 2010 World Cup brought him worldwide attention as an animal oracle.
WPunxsutawney Phil is a groundhog in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania who is the central figure in the borough's annual Groundhog Day celebration. On February 2 each year, Punxsutawney holds a civic festival with music and food. During the ceremony, which begins well before the winter sunrise, Phil emerges from his temporary home on Gobbler's Knob, located in a rural area about 2 miles (3 km) southeast of town. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, he has predicted six more weeks of winter-like weather. If Phil does not see his shadow, he has predicted an "early spring." Punxsutawney's event is the most famous of the many Groundhog Day festivals held in the United States and Canada. The event formally began in 1887, although its roots go back even farther.
WStaten Island Chuck, also referred to more formally as Charles G. Hogg, is a groundhog who resided in the Staten Island Zoo in Staten Island, New York City. He serves as the official groundhog meteorologist of New York City, who predicts the duration of winter each February 2 on Groundhog Day. The tradition dates back to 1981. He makes the prediction based on whether or not he sees his shadow during the ceremony between 7:00 A.M. and 7:30 A.M. on Groundhog Day. The ceremony at the zoo is sometimes attended and officiated by the Mayor of New York City. Chuck's prediction for 2020 was early spring; his prediction was in agreement with the prediction made by Punxsutawney Phil.
WWiarton Willie is the name given to a Canadian groundhog who lives in the community of Wiarton in Bruce County, Ontario. Every February 2, on Groundhog Day, Willie takes part in the local Wiarton Willie Festival. His role is to predict whether there will be an early spring. Although the original Wiarton Willie died in 1999, the Wiarton Groundhog Day celebrations continue each year with a successor of the original Willie, and each successor is also referred to as Wiarton Willie.