Mojave Maxine, the Living Desert’s version of Punxsutawney Phil (without the cool Phil Conners references), emerged from brumation (reptilian hibernation) yesterday, signaling that it’s getting warmer earlier than it used to and, welp, we should probably prepare for another long, hot year.
“Typically Maxine emerges in February, but the last two years she has made an earlier debut at the end of January,” Sarah Greely, Field Conservation Coordinator at The Living Desert, said in a news release. “2018 turned out to be a very warm year and perhaps she’s letting us know 2019 will follow suit.”
How wonderful.
Maxine got up a couple days earlier this year than last year and, at this rate, for 2020 I would just go ahead and guess she will emerge a few minutes after midnight on January 1.
The good news is that a record number of students participated in the contest to guess the date and time that Mojave Maxine would emerge, and the Living Desert will give winners 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 – which is nice.
