Seventy two Nigerian dwarf goats were the 2025 Groundhog Day prognosticators at the Milwaukee County Zoo. The goats ran out into the yard of their Northwestern Mutual Family Farm home to give Milwaukeeans a prediction for an early spring or six more weeks of winter.
The goats didn’t see their shadows, predicting an early spring.
Last year, the Zoo’s Humboldt penguins were given the duty, after the loss of resident groundhog Gordy in 2023.
Feb. 2 marked the third, and second consecutive, groundhog-less Groundhog Day at the Zoo.
Prior to Gordy’s arrival at the Zoo and after the passing of Wynter, a groundhog who represented the Zoo for seven years, Snow Lilly the polar bear stood in to forecast in 2018.
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“We had gotten a lot of good feedback in years passed,” said the Zoo’s Megan O’Shea. “Our Humboldt penguins got such a positive response. It’s just become something that we do and people and the media kind of expect us to do for fun. If we have a groundhog again, I’m sure we’ll end up back at the groundhog, but this is just where we’re at, and we get a good response from the community.”
Those Humboldt penguins are currently nesting and getting acclimated to their newly renovated Penguins of the Pacific Habitat, so a herd of small-stature, West Africa native goats has been preparing to take on the responsibility. “We did a kind of trial run on Wednesday; it doesn’t feel like there’s 72 of them,” said O’Shea. “We’re not forcing any outside, but likely all will end up out there. They tend to follow each other in a joined space.”
The Groundhog Day ceremony took place at 9 a.m., before the Zoo’s 9:30 a.m. opening, limited to event to staff and media only. However, the Zoo will announce the prediction to the public via its social media accounts and website, following the ceremony.
According to (new) tradition, if the goats see their shadows, six more weeks of winter can be expected. If the goats don’t see their shadows, an early spring is said to be on the horizon.
Nigerian dwarf goats can be seen from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Milwaukee County Zoo.
This story has been updated to include the goats’ prediction.
