LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It’s Groundhog Day, but whether or not a rodent in Pennsylvania sees his shadow means nothing to us here in Las Vegas.
We have a much different — much better — way of telling when spring has sprung here in the desert, and it comes from a local celebrity.
I asked Las Vegas local Bruce Forkush at the Springs Preserve whether he pays attention to Punxsutawney Phil and whether or not he says there’s going to be six more weeks of winter. Forkush said “I try not to.”
Me neither, and we’re not alone here in the valley.
“What does a rodent know that Mojave Max doesn’t?” Springs Preserve Senior Zoologist Katrina Smith said.
Mojave Max?
“He’s a celebrity,” Smith said.
This guy must be a big deal — so who is he?
“I’ve heard of Mojave Max,” Forkush said. “He’s a cool tortoise.”
He’s not just cool... “He’s the mascot for our desert tortoise conservation program!” Smith said.
▶ Watch last year's emergence | Mojave Max emerges from his burrow (slightly) earlier than 2023
The question I know you’re asking — how does a tortoise know more about the weather than a groundhog?
No, it’s not a meteorology degree.
“It’s biology, not just superstition — a rodent seeing his shadow is meaningless, but for a desert tortoise it’s actually biological,” Smith explained.
“The temperatures have to reach a certain threshold in his burrow for him to start to be active. It means the weather’s warming up, there’s flowers starting to bloom, there’s more active wildlife in general, so when he pops out it’s officially spring.”
Right now, Mr. Max is in his Springs Preserve burrow brumating, which is a reptile’s version of hibernation.
“The last two years he’s emerged at the end of March, so we’ve had very late emergences,” Smith said.
This weatherman trusts that tortoise. When he exits his burrow, you bet that means spring has arrived.
It’s such a big deal that local elementary students have been guessing when it’ll happen for 25 years in the Mojave Max Emergence Contest.
“The kid who gets closest to it wins a field trip for their whole class to the Springs Preserve,” Smith said. “They get to meet the real life Mojave Max, they get a pizza party, they get a whole bunch of prizes.”
More than that though, Max teaches us about the importance of respecting, protecting and enjoying our desert.
“I think he brings a lot of that information and knowledge, and really that excitement about learning how interesting and cool the environment we live in is,” Smith said.
And since we celebrate a groundhog’s supposed meteorological skills nationwide, that begs the question: should we have a desert tortoise day too?
“We should absolutely have a Mojave Max day, he’s a local celebrity,” Smith said. “When is spring here? When Mojave Max says it is.”
For more information on Mojave Max and the Mojave Max Emergence Contest, visit his website by clicking here.
