Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
May 2007

Nesting Birds and Spring Boats
Loons and Grebes Face Greatest Risk

From his home along Wasilla Lake, Jack Randall has seen boat wakes swamp bird nests, watched watercraft run over bird nests and even witnessed grebes ditch their eggs into the water when people ventured too close.

Randall, a longtime Alaskan who has written a book about red-necked grebes, worries about the future of Mat-Su waterfowl when he sees those things happen. Yet he remains hopeful that education could help change people's behavior around nesting birds.

From talking with ...   Birds and Boats ArticleContinued

A Day in the Life of a Moose

Biologist Stacy Crouse stood a few dozen yards from the big cow moose and her calf, scrutinizing their activity through binoculars. Without taking her eyes off her subject, she repeated one word over and over.

“Five, five, five, five.”

Crouse was counting every bite of food the cow moose was taking, and I was recording her observations on a hand-held computer. A stopwatch was ticking, the type of forage was entered, and this particular subject was logged in.

It was late ...   The Life of a Moose ArticleContinued

Rocky Nights
The Secretive Life of the Flying Squirrel

When thinking about the old cartoon favorite, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, most Alaskans can easily identify with the bulbous-nosed, antlered member of the duo. After all, the moose is a pretty high-profile critter in these parts.

Members of the largest subspecies of moose in the world, Alces alces gigas, are abundant on Alaska's roadsides, landscapes, and dinner tables. Maybe Rocky, the squirrel never got his due because he was the straight man, sensible and smart, and despite ...   Flying Squirrels ArticleContinued

Kenai River Access Affected by Winter Flooding
Ice Damage is Significant

Twisted metal, ruined boats and broken buildings litter the Kenai River in the wake of winter flooding.

Structures at Soldotna Creek, Swiftwater Campground, Centennial Campground, and Cunningham Park were destroyed by large chunks of ice. In addition to public property, millions of dollars in private structures were also destroyed.

Many of the angler access structures – the boardwalks and stairways – from Swiftwater Campground down to the mouth of the river were wiped out when ...   Kenai Flooding ArticleContinued

White Mountain Elder Shares Caribou Stories
The Return of the Caribou to the Seward Peninsula

Jacob Ahwinona's grandparents predicted that the caribou would return to the Seward Peninsula.

“Someday they'll come back. When we're gone, in your time they will come back,” he remembers them telling him. He is grateful that he has been able to see their prediction come true.

“I got to see the day,” he said. “They knew what they were talking about.”

Ahwinona was ‘Guest Elder' at the February 2006 meeting of the Western Arctic Caribou Herd Working Group in Anchorage. ...   Return of Caribou ArticleContinued

Editorial
"Orphaned" Animals

Wild animals belong in the wild. But every spring, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is called to deal with “orphaned” baby animals.

Wildlife managers appreciate that people want to help animals, but in most cases human intervention does not help. People are advised to leave animals alone.

There are many reasons not to pick up an animal. Animals that appear to be “orphaned” may not be orphaned at all; their mothers may be hunting, browsing, or only a short distance away but ...   "Orphaned" Animals ArticleContinued

Tom and Kellys Black Bear Roast

Tom and Kelly's Black Bear Roast Recipe

Start with clean, fat-trimmed-off, crock pot size roast

Ingredients:
Roast
2 cans beef broth
1can stewed tomatoes
1 medium size sweet onion
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
black pepper to your liking
corn starch and Kitchen Bouquet for gravy

-Place roast in pot
-Pour in beef broth, add water to cover roast
-Dice onion, add remainder of ingredients
-Place Crock-Pot setting on low, ...   Bear recipe ArticleContinued