Groundhog row as animal rights group calls for Punxsutawney Phil to be replaced with robot

Punxsutawney Phil, right, is held by Ben Hughes (Picture: AP)

It is enough to make Punxsutawney Phil turn on his tail and refuse to emerge ever again.

Just four days before the Groundhog Day celebrations at Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania, animal rights activists have called on the “Seer of Seers” to be replaced with a robot.

The demand came in a letter from Peta president Ingrid Newkirk to Bill Deeley, head of the top hat-wearing “Inner Circle” which runs the ceremony.

Ms Newkirk said: “Being in close proximity to the public causes these animals great stress. When Phil is dragged out of his hole and held up to flashing lights and crowds, he has no idea what’s happening.”

Groundhog Club co-handler John Griffiths, left, holds Punxsutawney Phil (AP)

She said the creatures, which have been forecasting the length of winter every February 2 since 1887 and were immortalised in Bill Murray’s hit movie Groundhog Day, should be replaced with “an animatronic groundhog with artificial intelligence (AI) that could actually predict the weather.”

There was no immediate response from the Inner Circle to the suggestion.