This Alaskan Moose looks like he was put together by a committee. But don’t let his humorous looks fool you. Experienced outdoorsman in Alaska worry more about moose than they do about bears. They are the bane of the Iditarod. Moose think the sled dogs are wolves.
Peggy and I are off in Alaska as you read this blog. Since I won’t have time for blogging or reading blogs, I decided to repost a few blogs from the trip we made to Alaska three years ago. If you have been following me for a while, you may have read these blogs previously. I will try to respond to comments. –Curt
Several years ago Peggy and I took off a year to travel North America. Peggy declared we were on a moose hunt, a photographic safari. Moose are everywhere in the far north, right? I’ll be darned if we could find one. There were no moose in Maine, there were no moose in Minnesota and there were no moose in Canada. We finally found one near Denali National Park, but that was it.
This time we spotted three in one week of driving up the Alaska Highway. These large, ungainly, friendly looking animals can be quite dangerous, especially if they have a calf. As for the bulls, those racks on their heads can weigh over 50 pounds.
Our visit to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Girdwood, Alaska on the southern end of Turnagain Arm had several waiting to be photographed. We also found some magnificent elk, several musk ox, and a herd of buffalo.
Check out the mouth on this moose. They are designed to strip leaves off of trees and are as tough as leather.
This moose turned to eye me and furnished a profile shot.
Roosevelt Elk have been reintroduced to Canada. These magnificent animals can weigh up over 1000 pounds.
These are cow elk with their distinct rear ends.
This elk calf was shy but Peggy caught it with her telephoto lens. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson)
Peggy also captured these Caribou with their forest of antlers. Once, when I was backpacking across the Alaska Range, I came on a herd that was quite curious about me. They would come bouncing up to about 20 feet away and then go dashing off.
Wood Buffalo are also making a return to Alaska and Canada. We saw several along the road on our trip through the Yukon. Peggy caught this one napping. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson)
I like this face shot I captured.
We both took photos of this buffalo calf.
Musk Ox thrive on the North Slope of Alaska wearing their thick fur coats. We worked hard to capture a photo where they weren’t shedding. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson)
An Alaskan Porcupine. The soft-looking fur is actually quills that the porcupine is more than ready to share. They are painful and extremely hard to remove.
I’ll conclude this blog with a photo of a lynx chowing down. Nice kitty. I consider lynx to be among the most handsome members of the cat family. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson)
Wandering through Time and Place 