Mojave Maxine, a 41-year old desert tortoise, is currently enjoying a nice, long sleep at the Living Desert in Palm Desert and, man, are we all so jealous! The good news is that students can now guess when Maxine will emerge from her slumber and win some prizes from the Coachella Valley zoo.
The Living Desert gives students in grades K-12 from nine counties throughout Southern California to predict when Mojave Maxine will emerge from her brumation (hibernation for reptiles) and make her first appearance of 2019. Typically Maxine begins getting her z’s about Thanksgiving – as tortoises shut it down when the days get shorter and the weather gets cold.
At some point, the days get long and warm enough and tortoises wake up and, about that time, you will start thinking about booking a trip to the beach for August because, ugh, it’s going to be summer again soon.
By the way, a little hint here: last year Maxine’s big day was January 31 at 12:28 pm.
Here’s how the contest works:
The first entry received from each county that is closest to the exact day and time wins a $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. Students from Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties are invited to participate in the contest.
You can learn more here.
