Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
March 2007

Alaska’s Lampreys:
Mysterious and Tasty

By Erik Anderson

This past summer, a group of high school students and I stood on a bank of the Chena River in Fairbanks, scooping through the mud and silt of a shallow backwater with shovels. We knelt down and sifted through the mud we had dug up, pulling out squirming worm-like organisms and putting them into white dishpans filled with a couple inches of water. A group of tourists from the Lower 48 came over to see what we were doing. Upon seeing the dishpans filled with wiggling, 3-inch long creatures zipping ...   Alaska’s Lampreys ArticleContinued

The Long Sleep:
Which Animals Hibernate?

By Elizabeth Manning

Now that spring is almost here, many of Alaska's animals will soon be waking from a long winter's sleep.

But which animals spend the winter hibernating? Most people think immediately of bears, but black and brown bears are just two of the seven mammals that curl up in dens or burrows or otherwise slumber through Alaska's cold, dark season. The others are Alaska marmots, hoary marmots, woodchucks, arctic ground squirrels and brown bats, according to Loren Buck, a professor of biology at ...   Hibernation ArticleContinued

Moose in the Fairbanks area

By Riley Woodford

In the 1970s, moose numbers in the area immediately south of Fairbanks were just a fraction of what they are today. The population has increased ten-fold in the past 30 years.

The recovery of this population is a success story for wildlife managers and good news for moose hunters. It highlights the combination of factors that work together to benefit this important game animal. But although the numbers are high, the moose are showing signs of nutritional stress, and biologists are working ...   Fairbanks area moose ArticleContinued

Grilled Ptarmigan Breast with Bacon and Chiles

By courtesy John Pearce

Lay one ptarmigan breast on a wooden cutting board and flatten with meat tenderizer mallet, rolling pin, or flat side of a large knife.

Sprinkle garlic salt or other desired spices on meat. Add one spoon of minced green chilies along one edge of flattened breast, then roll up the meat into a long roll. Lay a piece of uncooked bacon on the cutting board and place ptarmigan onto bacon and then roll again, overlapping bacon so that it completely covers the entire ptarmigan breast. Skewer ...   Grilled Ptarmigan ArticleContinued