Alaska Cruise: Reindeer Farm (8/6/2019)

Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Kent and I were the early shift, having breakfast by 7:30 and taking the hotel shuttle to the airport to pick up the rental car. It turned out that we could not pick up the car until our assigned time of 9:00, and that there was not a larger car we could get earlier (or later) except a large passenger van. So we explored the airport until 9:00.

Rainbow Creek (2012, by David Mollett)

Ovibos moschatus/Musk Ox, and Alaskan animal we would not see alive

We returned to the hotel in our compact Chevy Cruze to meet the later shift, and were ready to drive to Palmer and the Reindeer Farm.

Erich, Pete, and Dylan with a Oryctolagus cuniculus/
American Fuzzy Lop-eared Rabbit

Our tour started in a barn with a slide show about reindeer and the history of the farm, with a reindeer pelt and old antlers that the reindeer lose each year. Both reindeer and caribou are classified as Rangifer tarandus, but in North America, reindeer refers to all domesticated specimens here and to Eurasian populations. Caribou refers to wild populations in North America.

Reindeer antler tangled with fence wire (KSS)

Yes, I AM smiling!

On to the corrals, where we were each given a container of pellets, which made us very popular with the reindeer.

Pete with a male (blue-tagged) reindeer

Dylan feeds a reindeer

Erich feeds a reindeer

Tamiko nuzzled by a reindeer (KSS)

Kent feeds the alpha reindeer, and once he did,
none of the other reindeer would take food from him

Kent, Pete, Erich, Dylan, Tamiko (photo by Emily)

Emily feeds the 15-year old Bison bison/American Bison,
who was taken in by the farm as an orphan

Erich, Dylan, and Pete watch a boy feeding the 2-year old
Alces alces/Moose, who was also taken in as an orphan

All one had to do was put a sprig of leaves
between the lips to "kiss" the moose (KSS)

Great Pyrenees breed of Canis lupus familiaris/Domestic Dog;
lots of shedding going on!

Pete wearing moose antlers, courtesy of Erich (KSS)

Dylan wearing moose antlers, courtesy of Erich (KSS)

Cervus canadensis/Elk or Wapiti couple

Dylan, Erich, and Pete are back with the bunny

American Fuzzy Lop-eared Rabbits really do have flat faces!

After lunch at the Palmer Ale House (where portions were huge!), we drove back to Anchorage, stopping at the Ship Creek Overlook.

Salmon line up facing downstream to spawn

Some of these salmon appeared to be the Oncorhynchus tshawytscha/
King Salmon, the largest of the salmon species

King salmon that retains its red color

There were also smaller salmon, likely
Oncorhynchus kisutch/Silver or Coho Salmon

A gull feed on a salmon carcass, and we saw
one gull wade into the water to try to snatch a salmon

Stopped at the Ulu Factory, manufacturer of the ulu/an
all-purpose knife traditionally used by Alaskan Native women

The ulu would be passed down from one generation to the next. The belief was that the ancestor's knowledge was contained within the knife to be passed on.

Not much manufacturing today, just packaging.

Ulu from the Ulu Factory

Salmon and Waves sculpture

Back at the hotel, we waited for Betsey H (college friend of Kent and of Erich's mom) to meet us. In two cars we took a drive to West Anchorage.

Point Woronzof Overlook; our attempt to see Denali is
thwarted by typical low-lying clouds

We hiked along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.

Point Woronzof Park view of Turnagain Arm;
 showing glacial silt "mudflats"
(dangerous as it can act like quicksand)

Alaska may not have poison ivy or poison oak, but watch out for these two plants with similar leaves!

Oplopanax horridus/Devil's Club or Devil's
Walking Stick has its leaves and stem
covered with noxious spines

Heracleum maximum/Cow Parsnip may look
related to Queen Anne's Lace, but beware!
- the stems and leaves have a sap
that can cause blisters and a rash

One car returned to the hotel and one car went to Moose's Tooth Pub & Pizzeria to pick-up an order.

We had dinner sitting outside, of pizza and leftovers from lunch. This enabled us to visit longer with Betsey, whom we appreciate for taking time to visit with us and guiding us through the forest! And thank you, Betsey, for the reading lists!

Next: Alaska Aviation Museum.