Fair, Family, Fox

Well I think it is safe to say that the Brown bears have been enjoying the nice summer we are having.  JB made my job easy by just laying around between pond play time.

Every year the center walks in the Forest Fair parade.  The Forest Fair is held yearly in Girdwood, Ak.
We always walk one of reindeer.  This year we also decided to rent a bear costume and pretend that we had a crazy bear in our trailer.  Guess who got to do all the growling?

geez, I think my voice is still recovering from that weekend.  I would do it all over again though.
Before the actual parade we all met in the parking lot to do the decorations for the vehicles.  Here are a few of this summer's interns decorate.  From left: Cat, Maria, and Katelyn.
We always have a great group of interns every year.

Teal, an awesome intern, was taking some snapshots for me since I was locked in the trailer.  I really like this photo she took.  A good 4th of July photo.....

Ok here comes the fox part of my blog.  I really think that raising this fox has been one of my favorite animals to raise.  I hate to admit this but Jade the fox had to get  a name change.  We might have missed a few parts when we thought Jade was a girl....

Ok ok I know I know but seriously even the vet said it was a girl....

so JADE had a name change. Wait for It.....
COPPER-get it like Fox and the hound.  I like the nickname " Michael Jade Fox"
What are your thoughts?  I wish I could take credit for that name; however it was Wilson's idea (another intern).







Our bird feeders are always stalked since they are a big hit with the wild birds in the area.  Normally people in Alaska call bird feeders "bear feeders" but since we live in an enclosed area we don't really have to worry about ours getting destroyed by a wild bear.

Here comes the family part.....my favorite part of this blog!
My family visited a few weeks back and it was a blast.  Of course they had to be approved by Snickers.  I think the peanuts made his choice easy.

my Aunt Kris











my Aunt Karen

my Mom :)















 yay family photo; from left:
Devin (the boyfriend), me, Corey (the bro), mom, Aunt Kris, Aunt Karen, and Papa (my grandfather)

We took this photo at byron Glacier which is directly behind us.

Some of the other adventures we did while they were visiting included: hiking, eating,  visiting Martin Buser's Kennels (highly recommend by the way), tram rides, and playing card games.

I do miss my family very, very much.  The next time I will see them will be christmas time most likely.

Corey leaves in a few weeks and I can't believe summer is more than half way over!
Tomorrow we are going on a fishing charter for Salmon.  YUMMY!

I will let you know if we have any luck fishing!

Good night lower 48,
ErIn

Rain.....oh it's nice to see you again.

Well, it has been a long time since I saw water fall from the sky.  We needed it!  the animals needed it! And most of all the land needed it!  It was getting so dry and dusty around here.  The garden is looking very nice.

                                                           Photo by Doug Lindstrand

        Our yearling Reindeer "chuckles" is getting walked daily.  Kara, a returning intern from last year was walking him when Doug snapped a photo of the two of them.

Another thing that we are always changing during the summer are switching the moose and elk back and forth.  Here in this bottom photo the Elk 

Our bison calf that we are bottle raising is doing well.  because she is not getting attached to us we are hoping that she could be re-introduced to the herd.  in this photo Emilie is trying to convince Randi to come closer for her 30oz. bottle.  Our formula is made of horse milk replacer and an exotic milk replacer.

                                                     
                                                         photos by Doug Lindstrand

 Meanwhile on our days off.....

I made a quick trip to fairbanks and Denali national Park.  from left to right...

Jeremy, Kate, Crystal, Me, Pet, and my bro Corey.  We are posing in front of the bus that was used in the movie into the Wild.

In the movie "Into the Wild"  some of our animals were used in filming.  a moose, caribou, Bald eagle, and a porcupine were all used from our center in this movie.

Later, on a hike, this ground squirrel on the right was posing just perfectly for about 5 minutes so I took advantage of his patience and snapped away.  I feel like a real "Doug Lindstrand"  this is my proud squirrel picture.

Again, this squirrel was so.....hmmmm what's the word?
MAJESTIC!  I wonder if he hasn't picked up a few treats from  hikers in the past.....

We hiked a mile and a half into an area of the park before turning around.  it was a beautiful sunny day there.

In total we saw 8 moose!  including a cow and her 2 calves.  Unfortunately we saw no bears.








One last group photo before we left the park and headed back to good old Portage, AK.  I was ready to get back and check on all the babies.

Well Denali, it was fun, but I need to run around the center some more.
Goodnight lower 48,
eRiN,

p.s. My family arrives on the 8th to visit me!!! woo hop!!!!