Milltown Mel, New Jersey's famous weather-predicting groundhog, has died just days before Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day stems from a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition, believing if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on February 2 and sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and there will be six more weeks of winter. However, if it doesn't see its shadow, spring will arrive early.
It featured in Bill Murray's 1993 film of the same name, with his weatherman character covering Pennsylvania's event with Punxsutawney Phil.
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Sadly, New Jersey's Milltown Mel passed away just days before his big appearance.
'We Wranglers are sad to report that Milltown Mel recently crossed over the rainbow bridge,' the groundhog's official Facebook confirmed on Sunday, January 30.
'Considering the average lifespan of a groundhog is about 3 years, that is not such a shock, but Mel left us at a tough time of year, when most of his fellow groundhogs are hibernating... so no babies will be available to replace him until this spring. We tried everywhere to get a stand-in, but to no avail!' the post continued.
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'On top of that, the county is not currently renting out the big Showmobile stage due to the pandemic, so we would have had that issue as well. We will work hard on getting us a new weather prognosticator for next year, till then please check out what all of Mel's cousins have to say on Feb 2nd.'
While the earliest mention of Groundhog Day in the US dates back to 1840 in Pennsylvania, Milltown Mel’s ceremony only started in 2008, thanks to Jerry and Kathy Guthlein.
His passing has been met with tributes and other reactions online. 'Milltown Mel the groundhog has died right before Groundhog Day. It's not looking good for 2022,' one user wrote. 'All hail Milltown Mel, who sacrificed himself so that no groundhog will ever have to be forced to live a life of servitude predicting weather for men in funny hats ever again,' another wrote.
There's a number of weather-predicting groundhogs across the country: Stonewall Jackson and Essex Ed, also in New Jersey; Great Neck Greta and Quigley, in Long Island, New York; Staten Island Chuck in Staten Island; Dunkirk Dave in Western New York; Buckeye Chuck in Ohio; Woodstock Willie in Illinois; Birmingham Bill in Alabama; Sir Walter Wally in North Carolina; and General Beauregard Lee in Georgia.
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Cameron Frew