Moose and More!

There was way to much going on the the Alaska Wildlife Conservations Center to cover in a blog...or two...so here comes blog 3 from that same afternoon.  Let's start with Timmy.

 

Timmy is foxy...quite literally.  Handsome indeed, and a fox.  He was moving briskly about his enclosure until I walked by.  He didn't seem so interested in the other people going by.  I suspect I smell like cats and that was interesting.  A fox will not normally eat a cat...but I do have a fat cat that is roughly the size and shape of a Thanksgiving turkey, so he may have been picking up on that.  I thought he was a beautiful little red fox though, with his little black feet.  He has a little den, and 2 great horned owls as next door neighbours.  I didn't see a sign with his full story, so maybe he will be released this year.  My friend Sharon said when she went to the Conservation Center last year, he was new, and on that day was having a great time running around with the hose from his swimming pool in his mouth...spraying everyone and getting stuff wet...he definitely had more fun with the hose than the pool.

 



This pretty girl below is either Venetie or her sister, I can't tell the difference just yet.  Back in 2004, there was a forest fire.  A fireman found 3 lynx kittens with burns on their paws, their faces, and their ears, and alone in the burned area.  The mother was not around and it is was not known if she carried as many babies to safety as she could and had to abandon the rest, or if she did not survive the fire herself.  The fireman tucked them in his backpack and carried them out...but only the two girls survived.  They were flown to the Conservation Center and given a permanent home -- the kittens normally stay with their mother for a year, so they did not have a chance to learn survival skills since they were so young at the time of the fire.  They have a very tall perch and open enclosure...I didn't realize the 2nd one was up top looking down at me until I had been standing there quite some time.  I have to say, after seeing these little lynx, who at 11 yrs old are smaller than I expected, I am pretty sure Lexi cat might have just been a midget lynx.

 

 

Every once in a while, you just have a bad day.  Happened to me just last week.  I think I caught Melvin the Moose on a bad day, and it wasn't really very nice of me to take this picture when one of his antlers had just fallen off.  I was pretty worried about the missing antler...in fact I wondered if that was why he was there.  But it turns out that moose shed their antlers every winter.  Basically when it's cold, and they need to conserve energy, the big heavy antlers fall off and make life a little easier.  They only need the antlers for showiness and battling for the sexiest girl moose in the spring. This was a mild winter in Alaska, and many moose have not yet shed their antlers and it's already March when they should be growing new ones!  Melvin is also a lot bigger than me..I mean a lot.  It doesn't look very intimidating in the picture, but the moose is way bigger than those bears.  And Melvin's moose friend snorted at me when I went to take a picture, and I will admit I jumped and backed away from the fence.  Who knew a snuffle could be so threatening.  Anyway, I learned to give moose a very wide berth should I encounter them outside of the fence.  But I am sure he is a lovely moose all the same.

 



 

There were a lot more friendly faces...a few ambivalent, nervous, or exasperated by the demands of looking so cute for so many photos...but many curious and content ones too.  Speaking of curious...isn't the muskox a curious looking thing?  I admit I am a little fascinated with the muskox after this visit.  There were also Bison and Buffalo, Deer and Caribou.

 

Here is the Moose that started me...as you can see, it's not a mean looking moose...I think that's why the loud snuffle caught me so of guard.  These are just some of the wonderful animal people you will get to meet at the Alaska Conservation Center...don't miss it if you are anywhere in the state!