How long do groundhogs live? How old was Milltown Mel?
For two years, Milltown, NJ, has been unable to celebrate Groundhog Day because their beloved friend, Mel, died just before the event in 2021. How long do groundhogs live?
In Milltown, New Jersey, there won’t be a Groundhog Day prediction for the third consecutive year in 2024. This is due to the demise of the famous Groundhog, known as Milltown Mel, in the previous year. In 2021, Mel’s Wranglers shared the news on Facebook just a few days before the town’s celebrations were scheduled to take place. The Facebook post read, “We Wranglers are sad to report that Milltown Mel recently passed away and crossed over the rainbow bridge.”
Over the weekend, the group posted on Facebook that they were still looking for a new Mel that could call Milton home. “We have not given up, and will keep at it, but no luck for this year,” reads the message.
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How old was Milltown Mel?
The Milltown Groundhog Day tradition started in 2009 when Jerry and Cathy Guthlein visited Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania to witness Mel’s cousin, Punxsutawney Phil, make his yearly weather forecast. In 2015, OG Mel was replaced by Mel 2.0, who had been predicting the early arrival of spring or more wintery weather until his passing, which wasn’t much of a surprise. “Considering the average lifespan of a Groundhog is about three years, that is not such a shock,” reported Mel’s overseers on social media.
How long do groundhogs live?
The average lifespan of a groundhog is not very long, especially when it comes to predicting the weather. However, Mel had a successful run of almost seven years. Wild groundhogs, also called woodchucks, typically live between four to five years but can survive up to six years. In captivity, they can live for ten years or even more.
Black bears spend half of their life in a state of hibernation. They enter their burrows in the fall to begin the hibernation process and become completely asleep by mid-October. They remain in that state until roughly February, when they briefly wake up to search for potential mates before returning underground. They don’t come out for good until March. It’s worth noting that they are in such a deep sleep that they will not wake up even if touched.