Living in this state makes me glad I was a farm boy. Things that happen here are almost typical of happenings on the farm. We thought nothing of the wild animals of the forest paying us a visit in the cold of the winter. And I remember going to the barn and finding a couple of coyotes sleeping in the hay and a bobcat in the feeder trough.
But Alaska has more of the big kind of animals and when winter comes it is time for the wolves to migrate. More often than not they are migrating to the cities where food abounds. One thing I have found since living here is that there is not the usual abundance of critters in town. I rarely see rabbit tracks in the snow and have not seen a squirrel since coming here 7 months ago. Even dog and cats are rare things unless they are on a leash with their masters.
Here lately the stories in the paper have given me a clue as to the dearth of small animals in the parks and streets of major towns in Alaska. A pack of wolves have been seen in town and they have had dog buffet at least 3 times in the last week. The lastest one was on his leash in his yard with two other dogs. Why he was picked out no one knows but even stranger was why the others did not set up a howl and fuss while it was happening.
My 'off the cuff' guess is that the dogs belonged to a well known left wing liberal and have taken on the charactoristics of their human owner. They probably felt that the wolves where victims of hunters and were only doing what came natural. Or possible that if they looked the other way the wolves would not harm them. Well it worked the first time, lets see if they are lucky tonight. Oh' the bears are not all hibernating, one got a photographer a couple of days ago. To his credit he had a rifle with him and got off a shot before the bear grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off. The man's friends heard the shot and came running out of the camper and saw the bear and grabbed rifles and came to his rescue.
The real sad one was a returned soldier from Iraq hit a cow moose and her calf on the highway just behind my apartment and he died in the crash. Damn, made it home and then that.
Sarge
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
Recommend
First 