Manitobans will simply have to wait and see how long winter will be, after a groundhog controversy reared its whiskery head on Thursday.

The province's newest spring prognosticator, a woodchuk named Winnipeg Willow, has forecast a later spring.

Winnipeg Willow rests after making her spring prediction on Thursday. (CBC)

Willow was in the CBC radio studio Thursday morning, crunching on a few peanuts and under the cover of a blanket, before heading to The Forks where she came out of her cozy cage to take part in a Groundhog Day ritual happening across the continent.

According to legend, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Feb. 2, it will retreat to its burrow and there will be six more weeks of winter.

Despite a foggy day in Winnipeg, Willow was startled enough to tuck her face into her handler's jacket, leading to the later date.

Manitoba Merv came out at sunrise, looked around briefly, then declared spring will come sooner rather than later. (Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre )

However, Manitoba Merv emerged from his cardboard box hole at Oak Hammock Marsh and pooh-poohed that prediction.

He saw no shadow, calling for an early spring.

Of course, Merv is a puppet, so his soothsaying is somewhat suspicious.

Then again, he called for a longer winter in 2011 and was right on the mark.

Meanwhile, Brandon Bob, the groundhog in Manitoba's second-largest city, delivered the same prediction as Merv after seeing no shadow.

Earlier Thursday, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow in Pennsyvania, but Wiarton Willie in Ontario says it will be an early spring.

The Feb. 2 tradition coincides with the Christian holiday of Candlemas and was inspired by an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year."

How it became Groundhog Day and how the rodents earned a reputation for predicting weather patterns is a mystery.