For this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge, Patti of the Pilotfish blog chose “things that begin with the letter A”. Alaska, where I live. Arizona, where I sometimes play. Anza-Borrego, Arches National Park…. so many choices.
As I pondered my choices, I heard thundering hooves charge right by my window. I dashed to the door to see what it was all about, and watched a dog chase a big bull moose through the fields into the woods behind the house.
That’s not necessarily an uncommon sight where I live, but it would be unusual for most folks. So it came to me – what about Alaskan animals? That would be a worthy “A” subject! Better yet, how about amazing Alaskan animals?
After all, Alaska is synonymous with animals to a lot of folks. So I thought I would share a few photos of animals often seen in The Great Land yet rather rare in most other places (with the exception of Canada, of course.)
After all, one of the best places to see wildlife in the entire state is Denali National Park, and I was a park ranger there for 2 summers. I must have a few photos on file…
Sometimes I even have stories to go with the pictures – for instance, this wolf. That day I was leading some visitors on a Discovery hike in the Stoney Hill region. We had just gotten off the bus and I had barely started into my orientation talk when I saw him coming. I told my visitors to stand together and be real quiet, and they would soon see something really special. He passed us less than 50 yards away. After this super cool experience, to start our hike, I asked each visitor to share their most memorable wilderness experience. I do this to gauge just how tough a hike the visitors will be comfortable with. The first woman I asked, jaw still dropped in wonder, replied, “It just happened.” Everyone on the trip agreed.
Another story is about this little marmot. He was up at the Eielson Visitor Center. At first, all you could see were his legs, standing upright under the frame of the bus. He looked like a mini-mechanic, hard at work fixing something down there. What he was actually doing was probably making more work for real mechanics, eating salt from the dust abatement chemicals they spray on the road off the undercarriage. Sometimes the rodents will eat holes in the hoses in their quest for the tasty treat. About a week later, rangers reported a Hoary Marmot at Wonder Lake. Wonder Lake is forest habitat, not the alpine tundra that marmots normally live in. This little guy had stowed away under the bus and ended up in a strange new land! He was eventually trapped and returned to his home territory.
If I were to reincarnate as an animal, I think I would choose a marmot. After all, they live in the most sublime landscapes, above the treeline in alpine tundra, my favorite place. They’re fat and happy, eat flowers, play all summer and sleep all winter. For a rodent, they don’t have too many predators. They just have to keep an especially keen eye out for Golden Eagles.
But they’re not my totem animal. Everyone tells me my totem animal is the bear. We’re built the same, and I have this weird bear magnetism, which has given me a lot of bear tales – too many for this post. Besides, if you’ve ever been to Alaska, you probably have your own tales to tell – about those amazing Alaskan animals!
