For Immediate Release Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008 Mojave Max Successor Chosen Desert Tortoise is Southern Nevada's Weather Prognosticator The new Mojave Max has been chosen to carry on the tradition of predicting spring-like weather conditions in Clark County. The new desert tortoise is a healthy, 19-year old male with good color representation on his carapace (the back shell) and dark and light coloring on his scutes (the plates on the shell). This Mojave Max was turned in to Clark County's desert tortoise pick-up service in 2005. After being tested for disease, he was marked with an identification tag and moved to the Large Scale Translocation Site near Jean. Mojave Max somehow escaped this fenced-in area and ended up on I-15, where some California residents found him and took him home. They then turned him over to local officials, who found his identification tags and returned him to Southern Nevada. Mojave Max will reside at the Clark County Desert Tortoise Conservation Center while the desert tortoise habitat at the Red Rock National Conservation Area is being remodeled. Mojave Max is expected to move to the new habitat sometime in 2010. The Desert Tortoise Conservation Center is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) facility currently managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and located in the southwest area of the Las Vegas Valley. There, Mojave Max will have his own habitat and will be able to brumate (a reptilian form of hibernation) normally. The conditions at the center are similar to those at the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area, with the elevation being about 800 feet lower at the Conservation Center. The first Mojave Max died of natural causes at an estimated age of 65 years old on June 30 after years of helping teach people, particularly children, about the behaviors of desert tortoises. He entered a burrow to brumate every winter and emerged every spring. Mojave Max has been the representative of the Mojave Max Education Program and the west coast's weather prognosticator since the education program and emergence contest began in 2000. Approximately 100,000 students have learned about the Mojave Desert ecosystem through his representation. The Mojave Max Emergence Contest encourages students to study the conditions of the Mojave Desert and the behaviors of desert species and then predict when the live Mojave Max will emerge from his burrow each spring. Factors affecting his emergence are temperature, amount of daylight and an internal clock. The official grand-prize winner will win several prizes including a personal game system, a digital camera, a class pizza party and a personal laptop for their teacher. The 2009 Mojave Max Emergence Contest will start and emergence predictions will be accepted beginning Nov. 1, 2008, at www.mojavemax.com <http://www.mojavemax.com/> . Clark County and the program partners, including the BLM, the Clark County School District and the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association, are more committed than ever to bring environmental education to the students of Clark County through this program, representatives said. The original Mojave Max emerged as early as Feb. 14 and as late as April 14 during his nine-year tenure. His earlier emergences correlated to earlier spring-like weather, and his later emergences also correlated to later warming in the Southwest. People interested in volunteering for the Mojave Max Education Program should contact the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association at (702) 258-7097. Meet Mojave Max II Joyce M. King, Ed.D. Project Facilitator NE, NW, SE, & SW Regions Technical Resources, InterAct™    Clark County School District Research, Accountability and Innovation 4212 Eucalyptus Nedra Joyce Building Las Vegas, Nevada 89121 email: JoyceK@interact.ccsd.net 702-799-1041 Ext. 5963 Cell: 702- 480-9589 Fax to Work: 799-5067 Fax to Home: 953-6845 4 Simple Steps of Voting Step 1: Register to vote. Step 2: Find out where to vote. Step 3: Become an educated voter. Step 4: Mark your calendar for Election Day -- November 4, 2008 -- and VOTE! http://www.accessclarkcounty.com ----- Original Message ----- [Image] Secure Message Delivery                           FROM: Christina Gibson SUBJECT: [Image] FW: Mojave Max Successor Chosen   [ https://ccentmail1m.co.clark.nv.us/messenger/msg?x=d-572759-m1rkcPVJ ] VIEW MESSAGE                                                          Note: This message will be available online until 01/07/2009.             If you have questions about this delivery method please contact the County IT Service Desk at 702.455.3282.