Milltown Mel, one of New Jersey's weather-predicting groundhogs, died Sunday — just days before the big annual ceremony.
His death was announced on the groundhog's official Facebook page. It wasn't immediately clear how the groundhog died.
This year's Groundhog Day festivity in Milltown, New Jersey, is canceled, according to the Facebook post.
"We Wranglers are sad to report that Milltown Mel recently crossed over the rainbow bridge," the Facebook post said. "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!"
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