Waterloo cops issue cheeky wanted poster calling Wiarton Willie a 'fraud'

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Willie ever be relied upon again?

That seems to be the question surrounding Wiarton Willie, the influential rodent who annually prognosticates on Groundhog Day whether Ontario will see an early or late winter, after Waterloo Regional Police issued a snarky wanted poster calling him a “fraud.”

The fuzzy-faced namesake of the Wiarton Willie Festival in Bruce County reportedly didn’t see his shadow this year, predicting an early spring. But that forecast clashed with fellow far-sighted foragers Shubenacadie Sam and Fred la Marmotte, who both called for a long winter during their respective appearances in Nova Scotia and Quebec.

Punxsutawney Phil, the famed groundhog in western Pennsylvania, and Nova Scotia’s Lucy the Lobster also predicted extra weeks of wintry weather this year, which seems to be the case especially after last week’s double-whammy of snowstorms.

As such, Wiarton Willie may prefer to go back into hibernation to avoid the long arm of the law after Waterloo police shovelled out a wanted poster Tuesday to social media with the heading, “Want to try again, @willieofficial? #GroundhogFraud.

“Police are actively searching for Wiarton Willie after his bold prediction for an early spring turned out to be … less than accurate,” the poster says.

“If spotted, approach with caution — he may be trying to go back into hiding.”

Like Toronto, the Waterloo Region saw significant snowfall over the last week including about 30 cm of the white stuff over the course of the long weekend. Toronto saw about 25 cm over the weekend after 20 cm was dumped on the GTA earlier in the week.

In Ottawa, residents there saw about 70 cm of snow pile up over the course of the week.

While another 5 cm of snow is expected in the GTA by the end of the week, the good news is temperatures are expected to be near zero with a high of 2 C expected on Monday.

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