It's that time of year again when pumpkins are being donated left and right.  Here there are two crates full of pumpkins just as you drive into the center.  We also have multiple pumpkins that were donated by students in Whittier as their service project.  In a week or so we will be doing Thanksgiving with the animals.  This is when we load up our tractor bucket full of pumpkins and dump them into each enclosure.  The animals go crazy for them!



I quickly stepped in with the lynx to catch a photo of Venetie.  They really seem to love hanging out on the balcony since they get the best views from there.

 I drove out to the point on my day off to get a good 360 view of the Chugach mountain range.  The sun was just peaking through.  Speaking of sunlight; we had the longest day of light until spring just a few days ago.  Adios sunlight!









All of our calves are getting so big!  I remember when these moose calves weighed only 40 pounds or so.  Now it seems that I have to do a dance to avoid them every time I go into feed them.  

 I also wanted to check out Portage Lake while the sun was out.  The Lake still isn't quite frozen enough to go out on yet.  It is at the top of my winter list to cross country ski out on the lake.  Or maybe ride my bike?

 Sarah, a dog I have been taking care of the past few weeks, was just waiting to go for our daily walk.  She will not let me forget to walk her....or I pay the consequences by having a very energetic dog at 10PM at night when I am getting ready for bed. 













I have been house sitting in Girdwood, and it sure is nice to have such beautiful scenery so close to me. 

Sarah and Sophie waiting for their nightly treats...

Today I am in the ticket booth.  It is a good day to blog and catch up on any emails or tv shows that I have missed. 

However, my day didn't quite start out like it should have.  We actually had an extra bear roaming the center this morning!  It wasn't one of ours.  It seemed to be a year or two old and couldn't figure out how to get out of the center.  Eventually, he made it out of the park. 

I am sure I will get some good photos emailed to me later....I will post in the next blog.

Goodnight Lower 48,
ErIn

Halloween at AWCC

Halloween at the AWCC was a success!  But before I get to that here is what happened the week prior....

Living at the wildlife center I never realized we had our own private ice rink!  We had high tides about 3 weeks ago.  Since all the water flooded the pasture and then froze we can simply throw on our skates after work and well the rest is obvious. 

However we do things a little differently and with style....

So here is everyone gearing up to get ready for the ice.....they even had a fire pit out there!

 Not a bad few.....

 woo hoo!  Sarah is on the sled in the back with Abby looking like she is holding on for dear life, and her friend is rolling around Indiana Jones style. 

I had my turn on the yellow sled and I  think I  laughed like a giddy 12 year old the whole time!  It was so much fun!

 ahhhhhhhhh how cute and romatic! 

Que music: Sarah and Scott sitting in a tree.....











I have also been very busy house sitting in Girdwood.  Remember Scout?

 He thought he owned that Gift Store by the end of the week......
Thanks Kat for letting him hang out.

 Lately, for the past month or so, I have started volunteering on Mondays at Bird TLC (Treatment and Learning Center).  I get to basically feed the birds, clean cages, and work on any other projects they may have for us. 

This is Kodi a crow.  I am not sure what his story is but he always is trying to get into things.  Birds like crows in captivity need to be kept busy.  We did things like putting his food in closed containers so he had to work to get the bottle open.  We also hid his food around his cage in things like cardboard boxes and toilet paper rolls. 

Here one of the long time volunteers is preparing the daily meals for Bald Eagles, owls, and other birds.

 This is a Golden Eagle that lives at Bird TLC for now.  I think they are so beautiful!  One reason I like volunteering at Bird TLC is that I am learning so much about birds.  I don't have much experience working with them so I figured what a great way to learn about them and it's hands on. 

Ok we are getting closer to present day....

Dog sitting with Scout is over :( , but now I am on to another fun dog named Sarah.  I will be house/dog sitting for another two weeks with this lovely gal and a cat named Sophie.  (Sophie will make her debut next blog) Sarah seems to find the biggest stick when ever we go on walks.  She nearly takes out other passers along the way!





                                                              Halloween is here!!!!!
It was such a great success last year that we changed up some of the stations this year.  Kelly, the Director of Education, made a really cool hay bale maze for the kids to crawl through representing bats and sonar.  She also had a bat activity for them to make their own hanging bat. 

 The lovely Kat Jacobs, AKA Morton Salt Girl, ran the "feed the animals" station where kids did a bean bag toss to feed the painted animals behind her. 

 Patrick was a German boy that had Mosquito Man for the kids to toss ping pong balls at where that learned interesting facts about blood and animals. 

For instance, did you know that cats have 11 different types of blood?  Cows have over 800 types!

 Sarah was a green troll.  She had the kids step into a green room where they had to identify animal sounds. 

 I was Rosie the Riveter.  I made a graveyard where the kids unburied bones and tried to identify which animals they belonged to.  We had a Musk Oxen, Moose, Wood Bison, and Brown Bear. 

 Scott was a mouse at his station.  The kids dissected owl pellets and tried to identify which type of animal the owl ate by matching the bones to a chart.  I think Scott really enjoyed playing the role of the mouse.....

Sarah has her head down and is looking longingly at me just hoping it's time to go run around outside.  So I better go let her burn some energy. 

Goodnight Lower 48,
Erin