Only in Alaska!

[Chris D]

The bear-befriending looney toon (RIP) recalls a conversation with a Department of Natural Resources official, talking about bears who get close to people.

"We tell people not to go to areas where bears have been spotted, but they do anyway. We advise them to take pepper spray, air horns and whistles.
"Well, in our state we have two kinds of bears, black and brown. You can recognize them by their scat.
"Black bears' will have mostly nuts and berries. Brown bear scat will have pepper spray, air horns and whistles."

[Tanager]

1) Ron, beautiful picture. The only Trumpeters I've ever seen (we get only Tundras and the occasional Mute in NC) were sitting on nests in Idaho - wonderful creatures. Many thanks for posting!

2) I've heard several people say that the main benefit to pepper spray around Brown Bears is for spraying in your own eyes so you'll pass out before you get eaten.

3) I know one guy who used to carry a 9mm handgun for "bear protection." Anyone who knows much about bears and/or guns knows that will piss a bear off, not much more.

4) I read about a guy who went into a store in MT wanting to buy some kind of handgun for protection against bears. The owner of the store volunteered to file off the sights for him. When the purchaser asked why, the owner said, "so it won't hurt as badly when the bear shoves this gun up your ass."

[Ron Thorne]

Glad you enjoyed it, Tanager. I was confident that you would.

I went to Potter Marsh after my drum lesson in the area, and it was a magnificent sight! Some may have already migrated, but not all of them. There were four adults and three juvenile Trumpeter Swans feeding, along with some Mallards and other ducks as my favorite light of the day (late afternoon) was causing them to glow in a warm-colored amber. I took a few shots, but they were so far away that the reach of my telephoto lens was inadequate, I'm afraid. I'll download them from my camera tonight and check anyway.

[Tanager]

Ron, I've never been, but supposedly one of the great migratory waterfowl sights in the West is at Klamath NWR. That's probably a bit far, but the next time you're in Portland...

[las.vegas.lynn]

It really is interesting to read your posts on the bears. Some people just don't get the fact that people are NOT at the top of the food chain!

Thanks for the pics Ron. You all were the major beneficiaries of last weeks solar bursts.

[Ron Thorne]

I wasn’t able to see as much as I’d hoped last night, but our local newspaper had a crew covering this, as suspected. Here’s what you could see away from the city and ambient light sources. Incredible!

This is pretty much the look of the sky over our house on Monday evening when Patti and I got home from visiting our daughter. We don’t often see red aurora displays.



Light From Above: The aurora borealis fills the northern sky late
Tuesday above the Russian Orthodox Saint Nicholas Memorial
Chapel in Kenai. (M. Scott Moon / The Associated Press)




Solar Flares Paint Alaska Skies: Brilliant northern lights, fed by especially large solar flares,
were visible across much of Alaska on Tuesday night. The greenish lights, above, were
photographed around 9 p.m. looking northeast in the Gunsight Mountain area near Eureka
Summit. A red aurora, was seen directly overhead about 10 p.m. near Sheep Mountain Lodge
on the Glenn Highway. The display was active throughout the night, with the dawning light
helping create purples, pinks and blues in addition to the greens. The fast-moving geo-
magnetic storm fired another gigantic flare late Wednesday, and observers were predicting
more colorful displays. (Photo by Calvin Hall / alaskasaurora.com)

[Ron Thorne]

But wait, there’s more!

This is what visitors would have seen flying into Anchorage two nights ago. This photo was taken from the north end of one of the north/south runways at Anchorage International Airport.



Anchorage Aglow: Fog rolls into downtown Anchorage as the aurora borealis turns the sky
above green at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday evening near Ted Stevens Anchorage International
Airport. (Erik Hill / Anchorage Daily News)

Is this surrealistic or what?



Bright Skies: The aurora borealis fills the southwest sky early Wednesday above Soldotna.
Astronomers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks said brilliant auroras are linked of one
of the largest solar flare eruptions in years. (M. Scott Moon / The Associated Press)

[jesus marion joseph]

Those are some awesome sights! I'm jealous!!

[jesus marion joseph]

As I type this, the northern lights are on display here on Cape Cod. Not nearly as intense as the show in Alaska, but pretty cool all the same. I tried to get some pictures with my digicam, but they didn't really come out. Here's the "best" one fo the group (as you can see, the skies have been red). I'm going back outside to watch some more.

[GoodSpeak]

We got lotsa dust in the air...does that count?

[Ron Thorne]

jmj, are you using a tripod? If not, that’s ½ of the answer to an otherwise problematic, frustrating situation. You may want to experiment with exposure length in manual mode, too.

Glad you’re getting a light show, man. Cool.

[jesus marion joseph]

I was using a tripod *and* a remote shutter release *and* a 30 second shutter speed. That was the best picture of the bunch. I think the real problem is that I only had a small patch of sky to look at, due to all the tall oak trees in my neighborhood. I bet the show would have been really cool if I could have made it to the beach. Next time, perhaps.

[jesus marion joseph]

Apparently it *was* a much better show on the beach:



This is a pitcure from lasy night looking over Sandy Neck in Cape Cod Bay.

[Monte Smith]

Girl Scouts trap beaver, anger activists


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) --Let other Girl Scouts make bird feeders out of Clorox bottles and glue together little birch-bark canoes -- Troop 34 in Alaska is learning to trap and skin beavers.

In a practice that has angered animal rights activists, the girls are killing the beavers as part of a state flood-management program.

"We think it sends a very, very bad message that when animals cause a problem you kill them," said Stephanie Boyles of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. She said the Girl Scouts should want girls to become "stewards of wildlife, not abusers."

Last spring, about 10 members of the Fairbanks troop and their families helped catch two beavers using snare and lethal traps. The girls were taught how to find the animals' dens and how to lay the traps. Working under close supervision, the girls used knives to skin the beavers.

The troop had the pelts tanned and plans to make hats and mittens once a dozen hides are collected. The girls also want to cook beaver meat.

They plan to begin setting traps out again this month.

Alaska Girl Scout leaders said they know of no other troop in the country to take part in such a program.

Officials at the Girl Scouts' New York headquarters did not return repeated calls. But in a September 16 letter to PETA, spokeswoman Courtney Shore said the organization does not promote trapping or hunting and does not offer merit badges for those activities.

Shore noted that Troop 34, made up of 13 girls ages 10 to 12, participated after an invitation from the state Department of Fish and Game.

"It is understandable why the troop responded positively when approached by a state authority to conduct an activity that is commonplace in that area of the country," Shore wrote.

The state-run Take a Kid Trapping program is aimed at controlling flooding and other damage caused by an increasing number of beavers along the lower Chena River in Fairbanks. It is open to kids as young as 7.

Alaska scout leaders said the program is a "non-issue" in Fairbanks, where trapping has a long history.

Troop 34 leader Dona Boylan said she wanted to impart lessons in responsible game management to Troop 34's members, who are city girls, at least by Alaska's standards. Fairbanks is a city of nearly 30,000.

"Trapping may not be pretty, but the girls understand the seriousness and huge responsibility of taking a life," Boylan said. "They understand that when humans impact their environment, they become ultimately responsible for maintaining a healthy population of the animals they have to coexist with in these urban centers."

Girl Scout leaders said none of the girls would talk to The Associated Press.

"I feel like PETA doesn't have a concept that trapping is considered a heritage here in Alaska," said Mike McDougall, a trapper who worked with the scouts. "These kids are learning more than just how to take an animal. They're learning about ecology. They also got a definite sense of respect for the animals."

The program is helping to curb a burgeoning population of the large rodents, which in Alaska can weigh up to 70 pounds. Their growing numbers are attributed to recent warm winters and a drop in commercial trapping.

"Beavers are a valuable source of education for our young people," said Tom Seaton, a Fish and Game biologist. "Their carcasses can used in many ways -- for food, for warm garments.

Almost everything about beavers is good except when they flood your yard or knock down live trees."

[jesus marion joseph]

"Good beavers", Girl Scouts; this article has trouble written all over it!

[tippy]

>>ast spring, about 10 members of the Fairbanks troop and their families helped catch two beavers using snare and lethal traps. The girls were taught how to find the animals' dens and how to lay the traps. Working under close supervision, the girls used knives to skin the beavers.

The troop had the pelts tanned and plans to make hats and mittens once a dozen hides are collected. The girls also want to cook beaver meat.<<

These are good survival skills. That's more useful to the scouts then peddling fattening foodstuffs to the neighbors.

[Monte Smith]

Originally posted by tippy

These are good survival skills.

Indeed! Welcome shades of Baden-Powell. Suddenly, I heart Alaska.

[las.vegas.lynn]

Alaska is an Eat or be Eaten State. Better to eat than be eaten. Where can I order a hat?

[tippy]

I would like Ron, as Jazz corner's Alaskan resident, to weigh in on these blood sporting girl scouts.

[mke]

Originally posted by las.vegas.lynn
Alaska is an Eat or be Eaten State. Better to eat than be eaten.

Has anyone ever been eaten by a beaver? (The reverse, on the other hand...)

[Ron Thorne]

Originally posted by tippy
I would like Ron, as Jazz corner's Alaskan resident, to weigh in on these blood sporting girl scouts.

Sorry that I didn't see this earlier, Tippy. My apologies. Patti and I were in California when these posts occurred and I didn't have access to JC. I opened this thread tonight to add another chapter and found these posts.

I'm not particularly happy about this project, which shouldn't surprise many here. Yes, there's a long history of trapping in Alaska, but I've seen the results of some of these methods, and many are sufficiently cruel, gruesome and inhumane as to turn your stomach, or worse. Why didn't they consider teaching the girls about alternative methods such as live capture and relocation?

I loved this quote, "... Almost everything about beavers is good except when they flood your yard or knock down live trees." Well guess what? We've created our own problems by developing housing and other commercial development in areas where wild things have lived for eons, thus the negative impacts such as flooding. However if you humanely trap beavers (which are only doing what beavers do), take them to an area where they can flourish but is not likely to adversely impact humans, everything is likely to be cool for all concerned. That's not a really difficult concept to wrap your brain around as far as I'm concerned.

I really dig beavers and don't wish to see them harmed. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

I highly recommend a fascinating book, Lily Pond: Four Years With a Family of Beavers by Hope Ryden, with a Preface by Dr. Jane Goodall.

[Ron Thorne]

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with bluenoter (aka Rita), and she highly recommended a book to me ... Drop City by T. C. Boyle. Here is the premise in a nutshell: "For sheer storytelling power and imagination, T. C. Boyle has got to be one of the most impressive authors at work today. With his ninth novel, he delivers one of his most accomplished and deeply satisfying works to date -- a dramatic and vividly rendered adventure about a band of hippies who attempt to establish themselves deep in the wilderness of Alaska.

It is 1970, and a down-at-the-heels California commune devoted to peace, free love and the simple life has decided to relocate to the last frontier -- the unforgiving landscape of interior Alaska -- in the ultimate expression of going back to the land."

I immediately went to our municipal library and it wasn't available, but they offered to hold a copy for me when it returned, to which I agreed. I got a notice a couple of days ago, so today headed for the Z. J. Loussac Library to pick up Drop City before teaching a drum lesson. When I pulled into the parking lot I noticed a very familiar sight, a moose browsing on some trees and shrubs at the bottom of the outdoor stairway to the library. Then I noticed two more moose, a trio altogether ... a cow and her two spring calves. How Alaskan, I thought. And how perfect for this day when picking up this particular book! While waiting for the moose to move far enough away from any pathway I'd take to the front door, as usual, I observed some bozos trying to get even closer than 20-30 feet for a shapshot. There's hardly a more dangerous scenario that a cow moose with a calf or two, who sense danger from a human intruder. Dumb!

Once the trio moved sufficiently away from my path, I made a beeline for the door and got my book. I'm sure I'll enjoy it.



Thanks, Rita!

[SinginSumo]

What an incredibly personalized recommendation, Ron! Though I am off-topic, I suggest that bluenoter start her own thread of book recommendations to other posters here (when and if she is so inspired to do so).

[bluenoter]

Ron--

The pleasure was mutual, and thanks! A caveat: inhumane trapping methods and other disturbing ways of treating animals loom large in Drop City. But after all, the year is 1970--and the point of such scenes is to explore the "conflicts of interest" between humans and (other) animals. That said, enjoy Drop City!

Sumo--

What a flattering suggestion--thanks! Unfortunately, I don't read enough to do anything more than make very occasional recommendations. I'll certainly keep doing that, if possible.

[Tanager]

I also support humane methods of trapping/removal, with the caveat that it's not really an either/or situation in most areas of the US outside AK (which is still far wilder than any other state by far in terms of ecological disturbance). We've killed off so many of the predators (or created so much hospitable artificial habitat) that, in many cases, the only viable solution is hunting/culling (deer are one of the prime examples in the East, where they have essentially no predators throughout most of their range, the grey wolf areas of the far Northern tier being the only major exception). I wouldn't be surprised if, in some urban areas, beavers were in a similar situation - there are very few animals left in the East which are capable of taking a full-grown beaver. Yes, I realize this situation is entirely due to (sub)urban encroachment into wild lands and human intrusion, but what is, is - and in some cases out this way, the welfare of the animal population itself depends on humans controlling that population. Sad, but true.

AK may well differ, as I imagine you still have a healthy crop of predatory animals there, from what I've read anyway. So humane trapping/moving might just be a better solution.

And yes, none of this is the same as the hollow claim that "beavers are flooding my yard," as someone (Ron?) said...that's what beavers do. But you have to put them somewhere, and sadly enough, there isn't always a "somewhere" around here.

[Ron Thorne]

Tanager, I hope my response to Tippy's question didn't come off as overly simplistic or sappy. Your points are well-taken. I fully realize that human encroachment on the east coast (and many other regions) has created a different scenario than we have in Alaska. In fact, that was at the heart of my point. There's so much space, especially in interior Alaska (Fairbanks), that some careful planning could have avoided this situation altogether. Oh, and we're not short on predators ... yet. Please see paragraph three, however.

Hell, if the developer of that housing project had sent those same girl scouts out into the woods with their troop leader before a tree was cut down and foundations poured, they could have provided a comprehensive list of creatures living there. And that should have merited a merit badge!

While I'm on my soapbox, Alaska has revisited (against the wishes of many) the subject of aerial wolf hunting, and it's been approved by our Fish & Game loonies. The only reason wolves haven't been killed yet is that the area planned for the first hunt doesn't have enough snow, so they're camoflouged. It's insane! To quote former Governor Walter J. Hickel, "you can't just let nature run wild". Our current governor, former Senator Frank Murkowski, is cut from the same cloth. He's never met a developer he doesn't like, seen a wild area which couldn't be tamed with a road, seen a big tree which didn't mean dollars, or seen a herd of caribou which couldn't benefit from a few less wolves (for hunters) ...

[Tanager]

Ron, any chance you could get hunting Murkowski from the air legalized, too?

[Ron Thorne]

I like the way you think, Tanager! Or, perhaps a leg hold trap set outside his office door.

Just kidding, of course.

[Ron Thorne]

It's been dumping snow in Anchorage for about the past week, surpassing most December snowfalls.

I couldn't resist sharing this wonderful photo from this morning's Anchorage Daily News, proof that even domesticated felines are hardier than usual here.

Snowed in, like everyone else




A cat watched the snow fall from the shelter of a bird
feeder in Anchorage recently. According to the National
Weather Service, 34.8 inches of snow has fallen so far
this month in the city.
(Photo by AL GRILLO / The Associated Press)

[BFrank]

I'm sure Ron will have some Alaskan insight into this NY Times editorial:

December 27, 2003
Senate Ethics and 'Stevens Money'

In Alaska, the outsize chunks of federal spending that Senator Ted Stevens has secured for his constituents in his long career are fondly termed "Stevens money." As chairman of the Appropriations Committee, the resourceful Republican has made Alaska a supermagnet for government projects, fighting to see local interests benefit by as much as if not more than 70 percent in federal dollars than the per capita average nationally. Lately, however, there is a new connotation to Stevens money. An extensive report in The Los Angeles Times on business dealings by the senator shows he has been personally enriched by investing in Alaskan companies that benefited handsomely from his official actions.

In just a few years, Mr. Stevens built a $50,000 investment tailored for him by a developer into a personal fortune of perhaps a million dollars or more in real estate. In a separate dealing, the senator, whose clout at the Pentagon is legendary, helped this private-sector patron secure a $450 million Air Force housing contract over Pentagon objections. "I am a passive investor," Senator Stevens declared, defending as entirely proper the dealings that have also benefited his wife and his brother-in-law, an Alaskan lobbyist. The senator argues that he loves Alaska and is entitled to show his faith in the state. Constituents may wish that they, too, had the opportunity for such profitable acts of faith.

It is hard to argue that Mr. Stevens is breaking any Senate rules, for, stunningly, there is no explicit ban on a senator's engaging in profitable dealings with businesses and individuals who benefit from the lawmaker's official actions. There is only an amorphous criterion against behavior that brings "shame" upon the Senate. So far, the Ethics Committee has offered no hint as to whether the senator's home-state dealings merit official shame and sanction. We would hope to see Senate clubbiness at least ruffled by Mr. Stevens's blithe dealings. The possibility of reforming ethical standards has been raised, even by Senator Stevens himself, as he expressed confidence there is no rule he could be violating.