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Mel died just before the most celebrated day of his year, according to his Facebook page.
“We Wranglers are sad to report that Milltown Mel recently crossed over the rainbow bridge,” the Garden State groundhog’s Facebook page announced on Sunday.
The announcement did not say exactly when Mel died.
The Middlesex County borough’s annual Groundhog Day ceremony, scheduled for Wednesday morning, was canceled.
“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,” the Facebook post said. “So no babies will be available to replace him until this Spring. We tried everywhere to get a stand-in, but to no avail!”
“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,” the page said.
Milltown Mel was among several New Jersey groundhogs who have followed in the footsteps of the famous Punxsutawney Phil, who's due to climb out of his home in search of his shadow at 6 a.m. Wednesday at Gobbler's Knob.
When groundhogs can't see their shadow due to overcast weather, spring comes early, the folklore goes. If they're scared by their shadow and retreat back to the burrow winter lasts six weeks longer.
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