Wednesday, June 8th:
Don't remember much of this day- didn't take any pictures or videos. I remember being tired all day from the cruise. Often times I feel like a need a day off after a day off, because the day off is long and tiresome. But that is a good feeling know that you had a long, full, enjoyable day. Oh yeah, we got a new two and a half week old bull moose calf today. He is noisy and won't take the bottle. He is kind of annoying, but still cute. He and the other calf, Gilly, are now in the same cattle trailer next to the intern house. They are separated by a divider so they are not able to be in physical contact yet. "The new guy", as we call him, is being tested for tuberculosis and cannot come in contact with Gilly until the test comes back negative. I think they will be fun to watch run around with each other some day.
Thursday, June 9th:
Started out the day with AM bears- meaning I am stationed at the brown bear enclosure from 9am until 1pm. Every morning, whoever has the AM bear shift, has to walk the perimeter of the fence to check for damage to the fence, make sure the electric fence is functioning as it should, and to make sure the bears are not trying to dig there way out. This is the back side of the enclosure- the road between the Wood bison enclosure and the Brown bear enclosure- bears on the left, bison on the right:
and here are my colleagues with whom I collaborate during the day:
Patron- like the beverage. She is the 7 year old female coastal brown bear. She is named after the Patron beverage company because they donated $5,000 to have her name be that. Pronounced like "patrone".
Hugo- the 11 year old female grizzly from north-western Alaska, above the arctic circle. Rescued by two hunters when found by herself as a cub covered in porcupine quills. She has lived here for 10 years.
Joe Boxxer- like the company. They also donated $5,000 to have him named that. He is Patron's brother and they were both orphaned and brought to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center when there mother was shot in defense of life and property in Willow, AK 7 years ago.
Joe Boxxer, or JB, seeing what I'm up to:
After the work day was over for me, at around 7pm, we moved Gilly, our three week old orphaned bull moose calf out of the cattle trailer and into his new enclosure.
After moving in, Gilly quickly met some of the locals like this neighboring bull caribou.
Gilly
After moving him in, I went around the center and took photos of some of the animals because there was a good evening lighting at my back. Here is a muskox bull:
Three year old Jack the moose.
After the move and the photo shoot, I went on a thirteen mile round trip bike ride with some co-workers. We rode our bikes to nearby Byron Glacier and hiked around for a bit before heading back to the center. Here is a pond near the bike path on the way to the glacier:
My friend Marcy- she's from Texas.
Me with Byron Glacier in the background:
Our bike gang
On the way home from the bike ride, not only did we see a black bear near the bike path, but we saw this porcupine cross the road, so I had to get a picture.
Friday, June 10th:
Another day of work. Always something new everyday. I have no reason to complain about my job because I am outside in Alaska everyday talking with people about animals and interacting with wildlife daily. I especially like feeding the two Great-horned owls at the end of the day. They are fun to watch.
I started out this day very early with a 4am moose calf bottle feeding. The new guy, Nelson, as we have been calling him, hasn't been drinking a lot of milk since we got him from the Anchorage zoo. I was elected to do the 4am calf feeding by the lead intern. You get to do that kind of thing when you have been here for five summers it seems. Anyway, it went fine and Nelson took the whole bottle. Good thing he did or I wouldn't have been too happy. Since I was up at 4am, I called my parents who were shocked that I would be calling that early. It's good to surprise people every now and then.
After work, I road my bike to a nearby campground four miles away.to meet up with some extended family members who came down from Anchorage to do some camping. It was fun to see them and connect with them. They fed me great food, we talked for a while, then I left around 10:45pm to ride home. There is still plenty of daylight left- even at midnight. On the way home, I stopped at Moose Flats, a popular marshy area that is good for moose viewing. No luck tonight. I am now 2/5 in my Moose flats visits for spotting moose. A good day none the less.
Saturday, June 11th:
Another day of work. Today I did a lot of brush trimming and weed pulling in the garden. It was a very pleasant 66 and sunny today, and the mosquitos weren't too bad. I did not have AM or PM bear duty, so I found other work to do instead. I trimmed the bushes and trees in front of the brown bear enclosure so it was easier for people to see them. I also trimmed the bushes near the Bald Eagle and Great-horned owl's enclosures for the same reason. It was a good full day of manual labor- which is what I like.
Sunday, June 12th:
Today was another non- AM or PM bear day so I found other work to do- which there is always a lot of. I got to run the chainsaw again to cut willow, alder, and poplar trees and branches for the muskoxen and moose. I also got to drive the 4-door Ford F-450 flat bed diesel, which I love doing. The larger the truck, the more fun it is to drive, in my opinion.
The little calves are now starting to eat solid plants at three weeks old. It's cute watching them eat branches and plants. I also did a lot of trash can emptying and errand running. It's ok because I like to ride the four wheeler- which I did a lot of today. Good stuff. I bottle fed Nelson at midnight and have been catching up with the world on Facebook and updating this blog since. Well, bedtime for me. Tomorrow is a day off and I am going on a hike with five co-workers and one dog. Should be a good time. Pictures and stories to follow. Goodnight.
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