Mojave Maxine emerges from brumation, Spring is almost here!
Mojave Maxine has emerged from brumation meaning Spring is almost here!
Local desert tortoise Mojave Maxine, 41, emerged from her underground burrow at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens Tuesday at 8:38 a.m. That’s not too far from when she emerged last year. In 2018, Mojave Maxine came out of brumation on January 31, 12:28 p.m.
{“author_name”:”The Living Desert”,”author_url”:”https://www.facebook.com/TheLivingDesert/”,”provider_url”:”https://www.facebook.com”,”provider_name”:”Facebook”,”success”:true,”height”:375,”html”:”&#lt;div id=”fb-root”&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;n&#lt;script&#gt;(function(d, s, id) {n var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];n if (d.getElementById(id)) return;n js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;n js.src = ‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v3.2’;n fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);n}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));&#lt;/script&#gt;&#lt;div class=”fb-video” data-href=”https://www.facebook.com/TheLivingDesert/videos/1126591250847472/?__xts__[0]=68.ARAZHyqV6XAs6CxfruJVQF7rmTLIRGJwjdd6aU0zTL5zx_U0I7wdgkPRTeHZXD5B4tdSRJrH0OTLoAHmnSTC5tKXVN8D34wfqOoOUYw_nazpvv6oZvDqbWCzMpShKvZpYDoQIrYB6AmXPqM1IXeSTJVKt-GfPmWj54LbIvDyTC_D4TdGWmlTyZd6S9L1313niqZWPOP8jnL7sa7qeBJdKk-qc_5wzMkgiiuHq0dPcM19ezkZezOrpJP0ujv7sSNnGGc3c1pL0sxBe4CipQSw4WGF5BA1BZHCRznOBQ-hSS1STsDsmj9j6Q_MP_nru-uWK5VQHnkyKG0PmVjkM04yN-PstrkclBvq”&#gt;&#lt;blockquote cite=”https://www.facebook.com/TheLivingDesert/videos/1126591250847472/” class=”fb-xfbml-parse-ignore”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://www.facebook.com/TheLivingDesert/videos/1126591250847472/”&#gt;&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;p&#gt;Move out the way Punxsutawney Phil! Spring is off to an early start this year as #MojaveMaxine emerged from brumation (reptilian hibernation) yesterday, January 29, at 8:38 a.m. Sweater season is over! Maxine is predicting a warm season people! With valley temperatures in the near 80’s this week, it seems Maxine is an excellent predictor of spring in the desert. The contest is now closed, and we will be contacting the winning students through their teachers in the coming weeks. #catchMeOutside #DesertTortoise #GroundhogsDay #TheLivingDesert&#lt;/p&#gt;Posted by &#lt;a href=”https://www.facebook.com/TheLivingDesert/”&#gt;The Living Desert&#lt;/a&#gt; on Wednesday, January 30, 2019&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;&#lt;/div&#gt;”,”type”:”video”,”version”:”1.0″,”url”:”https://www.facebook.com/TheLivingDesert/videos/1126591250847472/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAZHyqV6XAs6CxfruJVQF7rmTLIRGJwjdd6aU0zTL5zx_U0I7wdgkPRTeHZXD5B4tdSRJrH0OTLoAHmnSTC5tKXVN8D34wfqOoOUYw_nazpvv6oZvDqbWCzMpShKvZpYDoQIrYB6AmXPqM1IXeSTJVKt-GfPmWj54LbIvDyTC_D4TdGWmlTyZd6S9L1313niqZWPOP8jnL7sa7qeBJdKk-qc_5wzMkgiiuHq0dPcM19ezkZezOrpJP0ujv7sSNnGGc3c1pL0sxBe4CipQSw4WGF5BA1BZHCRznOBQ-hSS1STsDsmj9j6Q_MP_nru-uWK5VQHnkyKG0PmVjkM04yN-PstrkclBvq”,”width”:500}
“Typically Maxine emerges in February, but the last two years she has made an earlier debut at the end of January,” said Sarah Greely, Field Conservation Coordinator at The Living Desert. “2018 turned out to be a very warm year and perhaps she’s letting us know 2019 will follow suit.”
Mojave Maxine reappears when the weather starts to get warmer as that’s typically when her favorite meal, fresh flowers, begin to bloom.
Every year, the Living Desert holds a contest where students try to guess when Maxine’s brumation will end. Students from Inyo, Imperial, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Ventura, and Kern counties all took there best guess when Mojave Maxine would make her appearance.
The first student from each county that was the closest to the exact day will win $50 gift certificate, a Federal Lands Pass, a visit from a desert tortoise, Mojave Maxine t-shirts for their entire class and a $100 gift certificate for their teacher.
Winners will be contacted soon.
“This contest is a fun way to educate children on conservation and animal behaviors, as it relates to desert tortoises,” said Greely. “It’s exciting to see the number of entries grow each year and we know the children and teachers love the prizes too.”
Spring is also when Mojave Maxine celebrates her birthday. This April, Mojave Maxine will turn 42.
