Madame Shiva: The Guinea Pig Sports Oracle

Cavy Savvy readers already know that there are some talented guinea pigs out there, including cops, artists, and more. We have also mentioned that there are guinea pig fortune tellers. Along the same lines, did you know there was a guinea pig sports oracle?

Many people have heard of Paul the Octopus, the famous animal oracle. Paul lived from 2008 to 2010, and in those two years, he correctly predicted 12 out of 14 soccer (AKA "football" outside the USA) matches (that's an 86% success rate). He would choose the winners by eating from one of two food bowls, each with a team flag of the competitors in an upcoming game.

After Paul died, many animal oracles tried to pick up where he left off, including Madame Shiva, a guinea pig:

The one and only guinea pig sports oracle! (image source)

Madame Shiva was sponsored by Swissaid, an international aid organization that focuses on things like poverty and sustainable agriculture. Madame Shiva would choose the winners by being placed on a flat surface painted with the two teams, and would then demonstrate her interest in one or the other, such as by leaving a poop:


Here's how Madame Shiva's predictions turned out:

• Madame Shiva's first prediction was that Switzerland would beat Ecuador, which they did, 2-1.
• She predicted Switzerland would beat France, although they lost, 2-5.
• She predicted Switzerland would tie Honduras, although Switzerland won 3-0.

It looks like Madame Shiva only tried to predict those 3 matches, and her record wasn't too impressive. But hey, even Paul was wrong on 2 of his predictions. Maybe Madame Shiva was just getting warmed up and, if given the chance, would have gotten all the rest of the games right that season!