Mojave Max emerges from winter habitat, welcoming spring
Finally.
He took his sweet time, but Mojave Max finally emerged at 11:34 a.m. Thursday from his brumation, signaling the start of spring in the Las Vegas Valley.
It is a beautiful day to go outside! I have officially emerged from my burrow! The official time I emerged is 11:34:41 AM on 4/15/2021. Stay tuned while we search the records and verify the winner of the 2021 Mojave Max Emergence Contest. #ToTheMax pic.twitter.com/1zqegHBQY7
— Mojave Max (@MojaveMax) April 15, 2021
A Tuesday video from Mojave Max’s Twitter account showed him slowly beginning to emerge, but he later decided he wasn’t quite ready and headed back inside. On Thursday, though, he’d finally had enough of the long, dark winter and was ready to announce that it’s springtime.
This was the third-latest emergence. In 2015, he emerged at 2:17 p.m. on April 15. According to his official website, the latest Mojave Max has emerged is April 17, and that was in 2012.
The earliest he has emerged is Feb. 14, in 2005. Last year, he came outside at 11:39 a.m. on April 1.
Students from kindergarten to fifth grade participate in an annual contest to guess when Max will emerge. The winner gets a laptop and a class field trip to Springs Preserve to see the desert tortoise. The winner also receives a yearlong family membership to Springs Preserve.
A previous version of this story included incorrect information about how many times Mojave Max has emerged this late in the year.
Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.