Pennsylvania has its Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog, and Nevada has its Mojave Max, a desert tortoise, to signal human beings on whether the weather will warm up soon.

Phil indeed did not see his shadow on Groundhog Day, signaling that the East won’t have six more weeks of cold weather.

Nevada, being Nevada, has a different twist on the matter. Mojave Max, a large desert tortoise and member of a much-protected species in this state, burrows into the desert at the Visitor Center in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, some 20 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Generally Max comes out of hibernation sometime between Feb. 15 and March 15 to announce by his simple presence above ground that warm weather’s around the corner for Southern Nevada.

Since Max doesn’t have a special day to appear, such as Tortoise Tuesday, Max doesn’t receive a lot of press hoopla with guys in top hats and long coats. Not even a guy in a cowboy hat, although if a Bureau of Land Management ranger happened to be around at the tortoise’s entrance, he’d see a Smokey Bear hat.

High temperature for Feb. 5 in Las Vegas was forecast at 73; the forecast for Feb. 6 was 76.

If a temperature trend keeps up for a couple of weeks, Mojave Max might come out of hibernation soon. If it’s in February, local TV channels might be interested, but if he sleeps into next month, Max is out of luck---March isn’t a sweeps month.