Many adventures in the past few weeks

Been a very busy month....

First off I would like to give credit to the amazing interns we have had this summer.  Sadly some of these interns have already returned back to their hometowns for College.
From left: Kayla Jackson -New York, Suzanne Steinert-Kentucky, Jeremy Brooks-Montana, Connor O'Brien-Georgia, Hanna Sundstrom-Minnesota, Erin (Me), bottom row from left Allison Dahl-Alaska,
Rachel Skrobot-Ohio, Katelyn Dotson-Kentucky.  Without these fabulous interns we wouldn't be able to do all the animal programs or have healthy baby animals.  Thank you interns for all your hard work this summer!

photo credit: Doug Lindstrand

We also added a new intern to our group..

Meet Amanda from New Jersey

 The baby animals are doing great!  Our 2 moose calves Richtor and Tectonic are growing so fast!

The Musk Oxen calves are also continuing to thrive at the AWCC.  Tsuni Must weigh near 100 pounds!

On a separate note; my mom visited Alaska about 3 weeks ago.  We went to Denali National Park where we then hopped on the bus and rode through the park.  Denali National Park is roughly 6 million acres in size!  The first thing we saw as we entered the park was something hiding in the bushes.  Any guesses?  I will tell you at the end of the blog. Hint:  Either a moose or a caribou.






             Me and my mom posing for a few pictures in the park. :)

This little guy was my favorite animal that we saw in the park.  Just after we left the rest stop called Eilson to return back; this red fox was spotted walking along the side of the road.

Reminded me of Jade at the center

A few days ago I was lucky enough to give a private tour to the one and only John Oates.

They were a group of 6 and all very nice to tour with.  They even shared their bananas with a tourist so they could feed the moose.

The latest adventure that I went on was back to Homer, Alaska.  This is the Halibut capital of the world.  We had a very kind lady named Cyndy ask a few of us to go on a halibut Charter in her place.  Cyndy always donates a bunch of bananas for the moose when she visits the center.  Thank you again Mrs. Cyndy!

The charter was based out of Ninilchik,AK.  We camped about an hour away in Homer,Ak.  As I was waking up this morning their was a Bald Eagle perched on a nearby satellite.  

FISH ON!!!!  I caught a 30 pound halibut!

Everyone in our group limited out with 2 halibut per person.

 This was the big one of the charter trip.  And I only got sea sick 1 time!!!!

lastly the AWCC was challenged in the ALS Icebucket challenge!  I think we passed the challenge.

Goodnight lower 48,
E and Z

answer: CARIBOU

CAN'T DECIDE

What is your favorite thing about your job?  No really?  I think about it. all. the. time.

FAMILY

 RESCUES

                                                                                                                                                                       BLUE SKIES

QUESTIONS

                                    JOKES

KISSES

MORE KISSES

                                                                                                               PUDDLES

GANGSTERS

PALS

 HAYRIDES

 ZZZZZZ'S

    SELFIES                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                     MEMORIES

CONSERVATION.

Goodnight lower 48,

E and Z

sorry Dave and Mrs. Connie

well well well..... it has been entirely too long and I am embarrassed how long I let this post go before posting.  Where do I begin?

babies so far that we have had this summer:

2 musk Oxen: see how big they have grown! Tsuni and Nami!
  But wait they were born on May 12th and May 26th which means now they are nearly 2 months old!  They are now getting 4 bottles a day starting at 8AM.  8am 12pm 4 pm and 8pm.  We give them a mixture of milk matrix and foal lac formula.  when they are about a year old we re-introduce them back to the herd.

Photo credit: Doug Lindstrand 

next up...Richtor and Tectonic.  Well Tectonic wasn't being very photogenic.  

Richtor came from Willow,Ak when he was caught by people, placed on a chain and put in the back yard!  Please, please, please, leave wildlife alone even if you think it is injured or orphaned.  Call your local fish and game and let them handle the situation.  90% of the time you see a baby animal; the mom is somewhere nearby.

Moose calf bottles are held daily at 9am 1pm and 5pm (subject to change once older)

photo credit: Doug Lindstrand

but wait there's more......3 elk calves, 12 mallard ducklings, 26 bison calves, and even 1 sitka black tailed deer named "solstice".  Solstice was born to "Solo" and "Leia"  on the longest day of the year in Alaska 6/21.  Leia has been a great mom and we are very excited to have our first Sitka Black Tailed Deer calf born in captivity.  He turned 1 month old yesterday.

 shows you just how good nature's camo can be...

When fawns are born they spend around 2 weeks just laying in the tall grasses in order to conserve energy and hide from predators.

Solstice really enjoys laying on the hill in his enclosure.

all 3 previous photos credit to Doug Lindstrand......where would my blog be with out him.....








just an update on the yearling musk ox calves from last summer.  Remember Chugach and Wrangle?  Well this is Wrangle 1 year 3 months later and about 250 pounds heavier.  Look at those horns!  also do I need to say....photo credit Doug Lindstrand

 Well I can't do a blog without updating you on my fur baby "Zelda".  She must have weighed in at 30lbs the last time I posted about her.  She is at least 55lbs now (the scale broke so I can't weigh her)  and a handful.  how do people raise human babies?  I mean seriously!  Credit to my parents I must have been a handful!

This picture was taken in front of Virgin Creek Water fall.









our next adventure together was hiking up Northface on Alyeska in Girdwood,Alaska.  We were a little tired in the end....

 Then I took my cousin, Lindsay, up to Portage pass hike in Whittier, Alaska.  We did some yoga poses at the top.  ok, ok, so we only did one yoga pose for this picture.  But we look like pros right?

Next adventure....hiking to Barber Cabin.  If you live in Alaska you have to reserve this cabin!  It is amazing!  It is only like a 3 mile hike in and you stay in a cabin on a lake that you can fish for trout in , have a campfire, and a stove fireplace in the cabin.

Our group was a little excited to say the least.

Talk about excited...Jade the red fox was a little excited for intern Hanna to be giving him a snack.  

Today I snapped a few photos of the elk browse feeding.  A daily chore that we do is to cut browse (branches from trees like cottonwoods, alder, and willow), and then feed them to the Elk, musk Oxen, Moose, sitka deer, moose calves, musk ox calves, reindeer,  and porcupine.

This photo was the before the elk noticed we added fresh branches.

still the "before"....but the ducks new something was going on....
















                                                         "after"!!!!!

We also gave our local celebrity his share of the browse...

Well that was a mouthful of a blog and I apologize to Dave at Bird Treatment and learning Center and to Mrs. Connie in Wisconsin for not posting a blog in so long.  I have let yall down and will get better at it now that I have a new house that I am  living in and the baby animals are doing much better.

Goodnight Lower 48,
Erin and Zelda

fur babies

Skies are blue. babies being born left and right. bottles being made 6 times a day.
yup.  summer is here in full blow.  The bison are still calving and we are at around 30 calves running around in the field together.  It is really hard to actually get a correct number on how many we have now!

   This time of year we also rotate the bison on pastures.  You can see this pasture was ready for a break.  The bison are grazers so of course we get free lawn mowing at the center when needed.

We always have 2 or 3 pastures available with fresh green grass so the others can recover when the bison are rotated.

Every year someone gets the wonderful job of "dragging" the fields on a four wheeler.  Dust is everywhere!  But I am sure you aren't just covered in dust if you think about what else is in the ground......yuck!   However if blood, fecal, and whatever else animal related grosses us out, we may be in the wrong profession.

Sarah had to drag all the pastures so she could then spread grass seed on it to get it growing again.

So reindeer are just domesticated caribou.  They are currently growing their antlers which are covered in velvet.  The velvet is supplying the antler with nutrients causing the antler to continue to grow.  These are just about done growing for this year.  When we notice a white coloration appearing this means the velvet has already started to die off and eventually the velvet is shed and we see the common antler appearance that most of us are familiar with.    Sven is sitting in the front.
He is a 2 year old reindeer that we use in education programs.  He gets his daily walk at 10:45am every day to meet visitors and teach them about reindeer.  they are also shedding their winter coat which is why he has a bad hair day.

The moose don't want their winter coat anymore either.

now onto the fur babies!!!!!!

  

 We had a musk ox calf born on 5/12.  We wait about a month nearly before introducing them to the public.

Meet Tsuni

This picture was when she was 2 days old.

She may not seem to thrilled to be getting this bottle and she wasn't.  However we still offer them a bottle and just the presence of us gets them use to us sooner.

Tsuni was more interested in trying to nibble my chin.

Tsuni was very excited to see Doug Lindstrand taking photos of her.

She isn't camera shy.

Oh did I mention we have another calf?  

Meet Nami.

Nami was born on 5/26 and definitely see Tsuni as her big half sister.

Intern Allison Dahl from Fairbanks, AK was lucky enough to have Doug Capture a feeding she did.

All the photos in today's blog were captured by Doug Lindstrand.

Thanks Doug!

more fur baby photos coming soon.









Now for a picture of my fur baby.

goodnight lower 48,
Erin and Zelda