Exhibit will go on after prairie dog mix-up. By Terry Brady, News Press.tbrady@news-press.com

It’s here, and the celebration is on.

With a little more than 12 hours to spare before its inaugural Groundhog Day event, the Shell Factory and Nature Park welcomed the guest of honor — Mona the groundhog.

“She’s here. I kept my promise,” said Shell Factory volunteer Richard Dunmire, who donated more than $5,000 for a groundhog exhibit at the park. Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, the park heralded the arrival of the groundhog that could predict whether Lee County has another six weeks of winter.

The Shell Factory had been waiting for the animal for the past two weeks. “What a big relief,” said Dunmire who is from Punxsutawney, Pa., home of the original Groundhog Day celebration and Punxsutawney Phil.

Mona was delivered to North Fort Myers by Wildlife Wonders, an Atlanta-area zoo and rescue organization. The 9-month-old, 8-pound groundhog was named Mona after her scientific name Marmota monax, Wildlife Wonders employee Tom Bennett said.

Bennett said Mona was brought to the zoo by a Georgia state agency. “We rescue animals and find them homes,” he said. The North Fort Myers park had to scramble to find a groundhog at the last minute because an unnamed breeder last week apparently sent the park three prairie dogs, instead of groundhogs.

The wayward rodents caught the attention of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission because of federal restrictions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention placed a ban on transporting prairie dogs in 2003 because of concerns the animals spread the disease monkeypox.

The Shell Factory has a license to exhibit prairie dogs, and has a habitat for about 12 prairie dogs, but it is not known whether the park has a license to transport the animals. FWC investigator Lenny Barshinger said the park told him Friday there was no such shipment.

The Shell Factory’s Pam Cronin, whose title is vice president of fun stuff, would not comment on the prairie dogs, the investigation or the contradiction in what was told to The News-Press about the animals and what was told to Barshinger.

“We’re only concentrating on groundhogs,” she said. Shell Factory owner Tom Cronin, Pam’s husband, said he was excited about Mona’s arrival. “When you have animals like this, you never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “With the press here, my biggest fear was that the animal would arrive dead.”

Pam Cronin said Mona would not be spending her first night in North Fort Myers in the habitat built for her because the exhibit still had to be filled with foliage.

When asked where the animal would be sleeping, she said she wasn’t sure. But Tom Cronin had an answer. “We’re going to put her with the prairie dogs,” he joked.

Winter or spring? The Groundhog Day celebration will be from 6:30 to 8 a.m. today at the Shell Factory and Nature Park. The event is free.

There will be coffee available for $1. Afterward, Cap’n Fishbones will offer a $4.95 breakfast buffet. For anyone who can prove they are from Punxsutawney, Pa., Richard L. Dunmire said he will pick up the $4.95 tab. Call 995-2141.