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Mojave Max emerging on March 26, 2007
On November 1st of each
year, students can begin entering the Mojave Max
Emergence Contest for the following spring.
Lilly Rosser, second
grader at Spring Valley Christina Academy is announced
the winner of the 2007 contest.
When the temperatures
in the Mojave Desert begin to decline, desert wildlife
responds by becoming sluggish and dormant. Sometime
around October of each year, desert tortoises enter
brumation (the reptilian form of hibernation). They
will sleep for five or six months before emerging in the
spring. The Mojave Max Emergence Contest encourages
students to study the conditions of the Mojave Desert
and then estimate when the live tortoise named Mojave
Max will emerge from brumation.
Mojave Max is a live
tortoise residing at the Red Rock National Conservation
Area Visitor’s Center. Like Punxsutawney Phil, the
famous groundhog, Mojave Max’s emergence is a good
indicator of when spring will arrive here in Southern
Nevada.
“There is a balance
between entering early and waiting until just the right
time.” states Christina Gibson, Public Information
Officer for the Desert Conservation Program. “The
contest rules state that in the event of a tie, the
earliest entrant becomes the winner. However, once
Mojave Max makes his debut in the spring, the contest
for that year closes. Some students have waited as long
as possible to enter, only to have Mojave Max emerge
before they have entered their guess.”
Weather is a very
important component of the Mojave Max Emergence
Contest. Temperature, daylight, and biology are the
three critical factors that determine when Mojave Max
will first exit his burrow each year.
The winner of the
contest and his or her class receive medals, t-shirts,
family park passes, a pizza party, and a trip to Red
Rock National Conservation Area. One teacher’s response
to recently winning the contest was “these children will
never forget this.”
Lilly Rosser and her
class sing the Mojave Max song during their field trip
to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
Mojave Max, his
emergence from brumation, and the related education
programs have received national recognition. All local
news stations cover his emergence each year. In 2004,
the Associated Press, CNN, USA Today, and media across
the County ran the story of Mojave Max Emerging from his
burrow. In 2003, The Mojave Max Education Program
received the first place "Excellence in Interpretation
and Environmental Education” Award.
As local biologists have
learned, Mojave Max’s emergence has been unpredictable,
but quite accurate. He has emerged as late as April 3,
and as early as February 14 in past years. The earlier
emergences did correlate to earlier warming temperatures
in the Las Vegas Valley.
Mojave Max is now being
referred to as the “west coast indicator of spring.” In
2006, Southern California began hosting their own
contest based on Mojave Max’s emergence. The Mojave
Desert, the primary habitat for the desert tortoise,
extends into Southern California as well as Utah,
Arizona and New Mexico. Therefore, Mojave Max is a
fabulous environmental icon for the entire area.
All children are invited
to log onto
www.mojavemax.com or
www.accessclarkcounty.com and make their official
prediction. Only children of the Clark County School
District and the Southern California Counties of
Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside,
San Bernardino, and San Diego are eligible for prizes at
this time.
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