Where did you go snow?

Well, we are well into November and yet where is all the snow!  I am ready for skiing, snowball fights, and to just stop filling up frozen water bowls!  Once the snow arrives most of the animals would prefer to eat snow rather than drink water so it makes my job a bit easier when it comes to hydration for the animals.

Jade has been doing some upgrading on the size of his den.  In this pic on the right I went to play with him and he was showing me his newly dug hole.

A few days later a local photographer and member of the wildlife center stopped by to take advantage of the sunny weather.  Since we were really slow on the amount of visitors; I had some free time to get her an up close encounter with Jade.  she was very generous and emailed me some of the pics she captured of me with Jade.  

Photo by: Catherine Diehl-Robbins

Meanwhile I was able to get a great photo of Adonis spreading his wing.  If you don't remember; Adonis is the oldest animal we have at the center.  He arrived to us 18 years ago from Bird Treatment and learning center (in anchorage).  He was found with a bullet in his left wing which in turn had to be almost entirely amputated.  He is no longer able to fly.  We actually have no idea how old he really is.  when he was found he already had his white head.  A bald Eagle typically gets his white head when it is around 5 years old.  This means Adonis is at least 23 years old!


We do have a tiny bit of snow on the ground but hardly anything to make a snowball out of....trust me I tried already...  However November is still showing signs of the rut; when the animals are typically breeding in the wild.  Doug Lindstrand caught a great photo of the bulls fighting.  since we don't have any female reindeer at the center the bulls don't fight nearly as aggressive.

 

                                                photo by: Doug Lindstrand

  Sarah Howard was feeding the moose when Doug drove by and saw a great opportunity to snap some shots of her with Teddy.

                                     I didn't realize we had cannibalistic moose here.....

                                                      Moose photos by Doug Lindstrand

               

This photo was from a few weeks back that Doug emailed me.  Solo the Sitka black Tailed Deer was just lounging around and sun bathing.  He is getting so big!  Next year, during rut, it will be interesting to see if Solo becomes aggressive with us since he has Leia (the female sitka Black Tailed Deer).






I may not have mentioned it in my last few blogs; but I moved to Girdwood in August.  I do miss living at the center but every day when I wake up and realize I can walk to town to buy groceries or walk to the post office.....well let's just say it is much easier to get errands run when you live in town.  That and there is more things to do than living in Portage,AK.  I imagine summertime will have me camping at the center when i have a 4AM bottle feeding.  I can't wait already till next summers calves!

Goodnight lower 48,
Erin