Happy Groundhog Day!

And while we're at it, let's pour one out for Milltown Mel, New Jersey's beloved weather-predicting groundhog, who died on Sunday — just days before his Big Event.

Because of Milltown Mel's sudden death and the inability to recruit a new groundhog to make Mel's 2022 prediction, Milltown Mel's annual Feb. 2 prediction ceremony has been canceled.

Punxsutawney Phil could not be reached for comment.

Which made me wonder...

Just how many weather-predicting groundhogs does the United States employ? With a hat-tip to Wikipedia, here's a list...

• Punxsutawney Phil, naturally
• Essex Ed the groundhog, and Otis the Hedgehog predict at Turtle Back Zoo.
• Great Neck Greta, of Great Neck, Long Island, New York, predicted in 2020.
• Quigley, of The Hamptons, predicts at Quogue Village Fire Department.
• Staten Island Chuck is the stage name for the official weather-forecasting woodchuck for New York City, housed in the Staten Island Zoo. 
• Dunkirk Dave (a stage name for numerous groundhogs that have filled the role since 1960) is the local groundhog for Western New York, handled by Bob Will, a typewriter repairman who runs a rescue shelter for groundhogs.
• In the Midwest, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is the self-proclaimed "Groundhog Capital of the World". This title taken in response to the Punxsutawney Spirit's 1952 newspaper article describing Sun Prairie as a "remote two cow village buried somewhere in the wilderness..." In 2015, Jimmy the Groundhog bit the ear of Mayor Jon Freund and the story quickly went viral worldwide. The next day a mayoral proclamation absolved Jimmy XI of any wrongdoing.
• Buckeye Chuck, Ohio's official State Groundhog, is a weather-predicting groundhog residing in Marion, Ohio.
• Woodstock Willie, in Woodstock, Illinois, the shooting location for the 1993 film, Groundhog Day.
• In Washington, D.C., the Dupont Circle Groundhog Day event features Potomac Phil, another taxidermic specimen. From his first appearance in 2012 to 2018, Phil's spring predictions invariably agreed with those of the more lively Punxsutawney Phil, who made his predictions half an hour earlier.
• Birmingham Bill, at Birmingham Zoo, was "taking a break" from predicting in 2015.
• In Raleigh, NC, an annual event at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences includes Sir Walter Wally. According to museum officials, Wally has been correct 58% of the time vs. Punxsutawney Phil's 39%.
• Elsewhere in the American South, the General Beauregard Lee makes predictions from Lilburn, Georgia (later Butts County, Georgia). The University of Dallas in Irving, Texas has boasted of hosting the second largest Groundhog celebration in the world.

Staten Island Chuck

In 2009, Chuck bit then-NYC-Mayor Mike Bloomberg, prompting zoo officials to quietly replace him with his daughter Charlotte. In 2014, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, famously dropped Charlotte during the ceremony, visibly disturbing many of the children present for the event. Charlotte's untimely death a week later prompted rumors she was killed by the fall, although the zoo later said this was unlikely to be the cause of Charlotte‘s demise. As a result, Bill de Blasio has not participated in the tradition since. [Wikipedia]