An old German superstition holds that if a hibernating animal casts a shadow Feb. 2, "the Christian holiday of Candlemas", winter would last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, legend said spring would come early.
This year, both Wiarton Willie and his American cousin, Punxsutawney Phil, predicted another 6 weeks of winter a few days ago on February 2 (Groundhog Day). Yet this week we are experiencing temperatures in the double digits (Centigrade). Today was 11 degrees with more of the same tomorrow.
In front of a little plaza near our office is a lawn that catches a lot of the sunshine, since the lawn faces south.
Lo and behold! That lawn was a beautiful green colour. It was a refreshing sight to see that patch of turf. Don't know if it was starting to grow, but it almost seemed like it was ready to be fertilized by the Turf King technicians.
When the snow starts to melt off the lawns, we usually get a few calls from people who have found their lawns full of pathways and trails. These surface runways are easy to recognize by the closely clipped turf in the pathway. There may also be clumps of grass that have been formed into nests nearby.
Some people ask if this is caused by moles? Actually they are "Voles" which is basically the proper name for field mice.
Voles are small, mouse-like rodents that are found throughout North America. Though they commonly are called meadow mice or field mice, they are distinguished from true mice by their short tails (about one inch long), stocky build and small eyes.
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