Adventures with Scout

 On Sunday I had a great start to my work day at the wildlife center.  Doug Lindstrand stepped in while I feeding the lynx some of their daily meal.  While he was photographing Kaltag; I took a few snapshots of him in action.

 We threw a piece of beef in a good spot for photographing.  Kaltag was crouched just behind the spruce tree.















 Then Venetie started to get curious.  They both jumped up onto the logs and were slowly approaching me for food.  Of course I was placing it around the enclosure...I'm not gonna hold onto their food for very long!
Notice how large their paws are.  A 30 pound lynx has larger paws than a 200 pound mountain lion!

 photo courtesy of: Doug Lindstrand

Doug graciously sent me these next 2 photos of me feeding the lynx.  These were the first photos that I have of me with the lynx.  Not only am I very lucky to be able to work so closely with so many animals; but Doug can capture these memories that will last a lifetime!  I have only been in Alaska for a year; but I already know that this past year has become a huge part of my life. 

 After we fed the lynx, we headed over to the black bears which have woken up about a week and a half ago from hibernation.  Because of the record snowfall; it delayed our bears a bit longer than usual from waking up.  It also delayed the bears in the wilds as well.  However, the bears in the wild are now waking up.  Just 4 days ago, on my way to Anchorage, I saw a brown bear that seemed to be about 3 or 4 years old.  She was just hanging out on the side of the Seward Highway nibbling on a tree branch.

Speaking of brown bears; Doug also sent me this picture of Taquka while he was getting a bit of training and some snack.
If your ever interested in getting an autographed book of Doug Lindstrand's work; we do have them available in our Gift Store.  He just dropped off another stack of books.  I own one myself and love to show people where I work since some AWCC animals are in the book.  For my Lower 48 friends (and Hawaii); I'm sure I could send ya a copy if your ever interested. 

                                                      Photo courtesy of: Doug Lindstrand

Anyways, back to my day at work....
It was a very productive day.  There was a pile of Pussy Willow that was dropped off at the center a few weeks ago that has slowly been given out to the animals.  I loaded up the last load and drove around delivering it to some hungry animals.  If you live in the Anchorage area and do a bit of hedge trimming we love to take branches as donations for our animals.  Especially for our Moose and Musk Oxen.  Moose can eat about 70 pounds of vegetation a day!  Because of this; Moose do have a very strict diet that can sometimes be hard to maintain in captivity.  

 Of course I had to stop and throw some to my favorite 2 moose calves.  Don't worry, I didn't forget about Jack as well.  He just layed down in the back while the calves went a little crazy.  He has been getting along very well with Gilly and Nelson (the moose calves).  Or should I still be calling them moose calves?




Kat and I made a visit to Jewelie.  Remember, Kat's mom sent a $10 donation for treats for the animals.  We have been making that $10 last.  Jewelie had some of the watermelon that was bought added to her grain that day.  I think you can say she liked it. :)

 I have been house/dog sitting for the past few days now.  This is Scout.  I did house sit him last year and introduced him in a blog.  Here he is with Kat; he was taking a break from hanging out in the ticket booth with Meredith, another AWCC employee. 


Thanks again Meredith for letting him hang with you!










Then it was back to work.  Once Sunday was over, Scout and I headed into Girdwood for our daily walk and dinner!
 

I Started my 2 days off with an awesome morning walk to the Grind.  One of the few local coffee shops located in Girdwood, Alaska.  It is just across the street from the local mercantile and post office.  So I thought I would mail a few goodies to my family in Texas, and my brother and sister in law in Arkansas.   It is so nice staying in Girdwood.  Having that luxery of just waking up early and walking to get a cup of coffee and enjoying the scenery....I could live this life. 

On the way to the coffee shop here is the scenic view I get to see every morning...

 This is a creek that runs through town; notice that the ice is finally breaking up around here!

It's about time!

 In the same spot I took the creek picture I just turned 90 degrees and took this shot of the Ski mountain and the Alyeska Highway that runs through Girdwood. 

 Another 90 degree turn and the sun is rising over the mountain....

Just a few paces up the road; a local street sign....

 At the end of my walk I have reached....The Grind!

They are actually getting ready to open their own roastery?  Does that sound right?  Either way; they are about to make their own coffee grounds.  Boy, when I first arrived to Alaska the thought of drinking coffee with a tiny bit of soy milk would have never crossed my mind.  However, after a day of working outside or simply looking out a window to see snow....coffee warms ya right up!  I remember when I was drinking half coffee/half hot chocolate....oh was I so silly then....

 Later, Kat, picked me and Scout up to teach me a little bit of driving manually.  Sooooooooo....that lasted about 30 minutes until I was close to a mental break down.  Let's just say Kat still has a klutch, but I am not so good at starting the car.  I can get into 1rst and 2nd fairly good now.

We took a break from my short lived driving lesson to go check Virgin Creek out.

It is one of my favorite places to visit in Girdwood.  Only locals really know about it since it is located at the end of a road in a neighborhood.  I like to take my mom here whenever she visits.  When she and a good friend of mine come in July; this will definitely be on the list of places to check out. 
Yes, of course we took Scout with us!

















Kat was giving Scout some loving....he wanted to be in the front the whole time we were walking around.  Eventually we had to tie his leash to a tree.  He was getting to excited and the snow melting around the edges would make me nervous with this lunatic dog running around crazy!

 The sun was peaking through the trees at us.  This time of year last year we would have been able to actually see the Virgin Creek trail; however, due to record snowfall this winter we still were following footprints in the snow!  Eventually we had to stop walking close to the creek since we couldn't tell how close to the edge we were.






Well ending my blog with a sign off from Kaladi Brothers, the coffee shop that I am hanging out at today, on my day off.....I think I'm officially addicted to my morning cup of Joe...

Goodnight Lower 48,
ErIn