7/9/07
"Stop, MOOSE!"
The driver came to a stop and about 20 yards to our left was a huge
male moose feeding in a pond in velvet. Everyone clamored to the
windows to see and Pam, our driver, moved a few times so that all
could see.
This morning we awoke at 4:30 so that we could get the bus for the
Kantishna Wildlife Tour we were on. It loaded at 6:10 across the
street from the Grizzly Bear cabins. They also opened for breakfast
at 5 so we were able to get there, get coffee and even check email in
their lobby prior to boarding the bus. They also had a very tame
squirrel that kept darting into the lobby to get crumbs that folks
left.
"Stop, MOOSE!"
The driver came to a stop and about 20 yards to our left was a huge
male moose feeding in a pond in velvet. Everyone clamored to the
windows to see and Pam, our driver, moved a few times so that all
could see.
This morning we awoke at 4:30 so that we could get the bus for the
Kantishna Wildlife Tour we were on. It loaded at 6:10 across the
street from the Grizzly Bear cabins. They also opened for breakfast
at 5 so we were able to get there, get coffee and even check email in
their lobby prior to boarding the bus. They also had a very tame
squirrel that kept darting into the lobby to get crumbs that folks
left.
We made it to the bus fine and we went to the second pickup point to
get more passengers. There were 43 of us all together. Ruth and I
got a window seat in about the middle fo the bus so it wouldn't be as
bumpy on the 90 mile trip out to Kantishna or back.
Sitting ahead of us in the bus was a nice couple from New Jersey and
their son, who will be a freshman in HS this year. We also had folks
from Missouri and Illinois near us.
The first wildlife we noticed were an abundance of snowshoe hares.
Many mistakenly called them bunnies and Pam, via the intercom,
announced there were no rabbits in Denali. She then proceeded to give
an excellent natural history of snowshoe hares. Their population
rises and falls every 10 years and they were close to the high.
We next saw a caribou at a distance of about 400 yards. Pam again
gave the natural history of the caribou and helped us all understand
how they live and act.
Pam continued to do this for every habitat and animal we saw. She was
very knowledgable about the wildlife and history of the park.
At the first rest stop, Teklanika, we saw some Dall Sheep. Well, we
actually saw white specks on a distant mountain top but we know what
they were.
We loaded the bus and Pam said we were in prima habitat for them and
we saw about 11 more as specks later on.
Our next rest stop was above a glacial river. The stops were about 20
minutes long and immediately after boarding the bus, I was able to
call out "Stop, Caribou" as a caribou trotted above us about 25 yards
from the bus. We all got a good look and I even got an interesting
shot of it.
The next wildlife was a grizzly feeding in low brush about 500 yards
from the bus. It was a deep brown shaggy bear that was meadering away
from us but we watched it for about 5 minutes.
Just a not about the stops. When Pam stops, she also shuts the bus
off. While the bus is off, we are ideally supposed to not speak.
This is so that the wildlife do NOT become habituated to human voices.
They'd like it so that when animals hear human voices, they run away.
This avoids problems with bear/wildlife interactions in other
situations.
We arrived at the Kantishna Roadhouse about 1 PM. We had a light meal
and then listened to Elmer ?? Tell us about his father, the Yukon Fox,
and the Iditarod Dog Sled race. His dad won it and he not only told a
funny story about it but he also took us outside to show us rescue
dogs hooked up to a sled.
On the ride home we immediately spied a moose about 100 yards to our
left but about 10 miles down the road we spotted the big male just off
the road in the pond.
We also spotted an arctic fox (perhaps a grey/red hybrid) that killed a ground squirrel as we got to it. It just munched on it as we all watched and snapped away.
As we rounded another bend, another bus was stopped ahead of us. We
stopped and spied a family of grizzly bears meandering through the
willows. There was a large dark brown one and three honey colored
ones behind. They were making their way along a creek and were in no
hurry so we got a good look at them.
We also stopped at the temporary visitor station where they had a
exhibit about antlers.
It started raining as we got about 1/2 way back and rained hard for a
short while.
Fortunately, Kira also called us right after we got cellphone
reception also. Why was that fortunate? Well, its her birthday and
we couldn't reach her at anytime during the day except for an email we
sent right after breakfast. Happy Birthday Kira!!! We love you!
--
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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach
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