Alaska animals – Grizzly Bear Blog (original) (raw)
Archive for the Alaska animals Category
Grizzly Bear and Wolf Tracks
Posted in Alaska animals with tags Alaska, animals, bears, grizzly bears, wildlife, wolves on November 8, 2011 by grizzlybearblog
A healthy Alaskan ecosystem will reveal the tracks of predators. Here, grizzly tracks are bordered in fresh wolf prints. The wolf population has been growing on the coast of Katmai National Park. The wolves use the beach as a highway and they trek the coastline during the few hours of summer darkness.
Bears and wolves compete for food sources. During this past summer, guides witnessed wolves fishing for salmon alongside the grizzly bears on the Katmai coast.
Moose Nursing
Posted in Alaska animals with tags Alaska, animals, moose on September 19, 2011 by grizzlybearblog
A very young, baby moose nurses. I took this photo from my house in Anchor Point, Alaska. This mother with twins frequented the area around our house, and liked a pond across the street.
Moose babies are vulnerable to predation by bears and wolves. Grizzly bears also prey on adult moose. The first summer I moved to Homer, Alaska two residents watched a grizzly bear take down and kill an adult moose in their driveway. The grizzly quickly ate the highly nutritious heart, liver and other vital organs, then fled the scene out of fear of humans.
Watch the video of this grizzly kill:
Bald Eagle in Spring
Posted in Alaska animals with tags Alaska, animals, bald eagle, eagles, wildlife on September 19, 2011 by grizzlybearblog
A Bald Eagle in Homer, Alaska snacks on some scavenged meat.
Grizzly Bear with Red Fox
Posted in Alaska animals, Grizzly bears and people with tags Alaska, animals, bear, Bear Viewing, fox, grizzly bears on May 24, 2011 by grizzlybearblog
A grizzly bear digs for clams side by side with a clamming red fox. Foxes will dig for their own clams, in addition to eating smaller bits of clam meat left behind by the bears. Foxes may nibble on the meat left stuck to the clam shells by the bears. Cubs also eat this meat when following their mothers around the mud flats.
You can also just barely make out a group of bear viewers standing behind the grizzly bear.
The fox’s fur looks really ratty since she is molting her thick winter coat.
Alaskan Red Fox
Posted in Alaska animals on April 20, 2011 by grizzlybearblog
A red fox tip toes up to me after smelling my afternoon snack.
Alaska Bald Eagle
Posted in Alaska, Alaska animals with tags Alaska, animals, bald eagles, birds, eagles, nature on December 27, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
A bald eagle soars over Homer, Alaska. Bald eagles steer in the air by shifting the position of the tips of their wings. This photo really shows the out stretched wing tips in action.
Bald Eagle in Homer, Alaska
Posted in Alaska animals with tags Alaska, animals, bird watching, birds, eagles, nature, wildlife on December 5, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
Despite their imposing size, talons and beak, bald eagles are far more timid and passive than the gulls and ravens who eat the same foods. You will often spot ravens bullying the shy eagles, and eagles are often chased off a fish carcass by the smaller yet aggressive gulls. Stereotypes about animals based on their physical appearance are quite often false. That being said, all animals are individuals. One afternoon I spotted a bald eagle on a roof munching heartily on a raven.
Bald eagles and grizzly bears live side by side. Eagles feed off the salmon and meat carcasses that bears leave behind. The removal of large mammals from the top of the food chain harms smaller animals lower on the food chain. When grizzly bears are killed by humans, scavengers like eagles, ravens, and foxes are denied vital food sources. Despite decades of scientific research proving that predator species keep the ecosystem thriving, the Alaska government has been exterminating 80% of the bear and wolf population outside of Anchorage. This genocide has devastating consequences on the entire Alaskan ecosystem. The wholesale slaughter of Alaska’s predators was started by Governor Murkowski and then escalated by former Governor Sarah Palin.
Red Fox
Posted in Alaska animals with tags Alaska, animals, fox, nature, wildlife on December 3, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
This red fox, along with his female companion, came close to check out my husband and I. Foxes are funny to observe – they are so flighty and nervous that they jump up and run away at the slightest noise or movement. But after leaping away, they return quickly if they determine there is no threat. Their survival strategy definitely seems to be run first, ask questions later.
They are skilled hunters – I observed one red fox leap in the air and land with lightening speed on top of a vole in the grass. Another evening I observed a red fox racing down a trail by our tent with a humongous whole fish in his mouth. Foxes would often visit our campsite, sniffing around the perimeter and marking the bushes nearby with urine.
Wolf Tracks in Alaska
Posted in Alaska, Alaska animals on September 24, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
Wolf tracks are much larger than dog prints. Wolf prints can be seen up and down the beaches on the coastline of South Central Alaska. When a wild wolf approached me one evening I was stunned at how huge she was! She looked more like a small horse than a dog, and her feet looked like dinner plates. Click here to read more about my late night encounter with a wild wolf.
Red Fox in Katmai National Park
Posted in Alaska animals on September 21, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
A red fox and her friend approached us one afternoon while we rested in a tangle of driftwood logs. The foxes in Katmai National Park are quite friendly and curious. Many mornings we found them bounding around our campsite hunting for small rodents in the tall grass. They also feast on salmon scraps left behind by the grizzly bears.
At one point she walked right up to my camera lens, although at the slightest movement or sound she would startle and jump backwards.