Mountain goats often hang out of the cliffs above the highway, but it's difficult to see them at 65 mph. I have learned to watch the roadside turnouts for photographers with big lenses trained at the sky. Photographers and goats apparently go hand in hand. When I see them, I pull over and enjoy the mountain goats myself. I was particularly happy to see a baby goat!
They were safe from us clumsy humans below, but I think just knowing we were watching them made them a little self conscious.
I can add this to the collection of photos of animals mooning me.
Eventually they found a comfy little spot among the rocks and thorns to settle in. I decided to carry on and let the little guy have some sleep.
The other goal of my trip was to get some snowy Alaska pictures for my Christmas card project. Alaska did not disappoint. There were far too many great scenic views to put on the card. This one was not the one I chose, although in retrospect, I really love this picture.
I chose this one, because it shows the shoreline of heavy silt along the inlet. A very different beach than my last home in Bermuda.
In the summer, a baby muskox and his mother had a private area. Now that the winter was arriving, the little guy had beefed up and fluffed up. Muskox wool is warmer than sheeps wool and softer than cashmere. The Inupiaq people, who lived her long before I, called these animals Oomingmak. Their wool was called quviut. Today you can buy quiviut products. A scarf costs upwards of $200. I asked about a blanket and was given an estimate of $5000.00. The wool does not shrink, and if cared for properly a garment will last 20 years. I don't make enough money to buy a $5000 blanket, so I jut shivered a bit and admired this fuzzy little guy, happy to know he'd be warm all winter.
My next stop was to meet Deshka! Deshka was a newer arrival at the conservation center. She was born in captivity in Montana, but she is a gray tundra wolf. She moved to Alaska when she was just a few weeks old, in the summer of 2015. She stayed out of the public spotlight in an area off limits to visitors until the fall, so this was my first sight of her. I was surprised to see that she was smaller than a lot of the dogs around here. She had very high energy, enjoyed pouncing in he snow, and was shy and beautiful and a wonderful sight to see. Deshka also made the Christmas card.
The center also had a new porcupine. This little fella has a nice little pad to hang out in. And hang out he does, he tends to be asleep whenever I visit. Hopefully he's doing laps and having fun at night.
Adonis is the resident bald eagle. Adonis was unfortunately injured in a norther community. He was found with a gunshot wound that resulted in a wing amputation. Bald Eagles have a long life. He will have a safe home, but he cannot fly and be returned to the wild. It's tough to see, but what is great is when you see some of the workers, in the pens, feeding, passionately sharing information about these animals, and interacting with them, you feel as it's the best possible outcome considering the circumstances.
These deer were wandering around, all fuzzy and calm, not at all bothered by the lone girl with a camera wandering around on a snowy day. I don't think I realized how the "antler attachment" points looked on deer before, thought they were kind of pretty.
I put my hand out so she could smell me, which I probably shouldn't have done, because she licked me! I quickly pulled my hand back, running through my mind if humans carry any bacteria that are harmful to deer. I think my skin flora are the same as hers, but kept my hands away from the fences after that, for her not me.
I did however try to get one snapshot of the whole deer...she is a bit blurry because she was not going to stand still for me!
The muskox usually are further away from the fence, and I rarely get a photo opportunity. I stopped here to get a picture of this guy who was up and looking right at me. As soon as I turned my head...
...the little oomingmak charged me! It was like Sesame Street where they do near...and far. Except it was far....and suddenly near. Now the face may look innocent, but apprarently without the fence, I would have been head butted with the same force as a slow moving car. Except the Oomingmak can actually run 37 miles per hour...explaining the far and near...so...this fuzzy little beauty might have knocked me out of the park!
It had been quite the weekend. On the Saturday I saw a Viking go by in a kayak, saw a very large grizzly in the middle of the highway, got licked by a deer, and charged by a muskox. Par for the course in wonderful and wild Alaska.
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