Groundhog Day 2022 Is Cancelled In This US Town After Its Celebrity Rodent Suddenly Died

There aren’t that many celebrity animals around, so it’s cause for a lot of shock when one dies.

A famous weather-predicting groundhog known as Milltown Mel “recently crossed over the rainbow bridge,” according to a statement from his handlers on Facebook.

The groundhog was native to Milltown, New Jersey, where thousands of people would travel each February to witness the rodent predict when winter would finally be coming to an end.

The tradition is that if the groundhog sees his shadow, it means that we’re in for six more long weeks of winter, but if it doesn’t see its shadow, then spring is on the horizon.

Mel died right before his big day, and his handlers could not find a replacement groundhog to carry on the tradition in time for the February 2 event.

They explained that 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.”

They promised to find a replacement in time for next year’s event.

Given that a groundhog’s life expectancy is approximately three years, they say it’s not shocking that he died — although the timing is tough.

Last year, the celebrity groundhog didn’t see his shadow, predicting an early spring, reported NPR. Mel made the prediction despite being in quarantine due to the pandemic.

Milltown Mel belonged to that exclusive club of groundhog meteorologists, along with the likes of Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie and Shubenacadie Sam.

Phil might be the most famous of the bunch, in part because the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day is set in his town.

But while Milltown Mel might be lesser-known, his handlers pride themselves on having more accurate weather predictions, reported FOX26.