Hungry Grizzly Bear Attack

So maybe I am not a certified wildlife expert, but I live in bear country and follow bear attack stories closely. The media sometimes plays them up as "bears gone wild" to make sure the public stays very scared of the wilderness...but if you read and closely look at all aspects of bear behavior some things just stand out.

In Alaska, many of our quasi-urban bear attacks have a common thread: startling the bear or alerting their "chase" instinct. Case in point-joggers bit in the butt, or bicyclists mauled. Silent persons speeding by bears in the woods--not a good idea.

Second aspect I have noticed, is a possible cause behind remote wilderness bear attacks--seems to be the "hungry bear" phenomena. A few years back some campers were mauled in ANWR, or even the famous killing by Timothy Treadwell appears to be caused by a desperate "malnourished bear". As far as I understand it, human doesn't taste good to bears, but if they are really, really hungry- probably the bear isn't picky.

Back East in the Catskill mountains of NY I know of a children's summer camp frequented by roaming black bears (these are not the more aggressive grizzly bears). But nevertheless, they actually cause no problems for the campers except leaving a mess, breaking screen doors and some interesting amusement for all. Always happy and well-fed on garbage, these bears seem to exhibit "Yogi bear behavior".

Now the recent Yellowstone bear mauling has reportedly involved "malnourished bear cubs". Tragic story, and makes me wonder about all the "bear proof" containers at the park. On the one hand, you don't want to encourage all that begging and garbage picking--but I can't help but wonder--aren't dumpster diving bears safer for us than crazed tent divers? It seems they can make the distinction between humans leaving behind food, versus actually being the food--and I believe most bears would choose KFC and mm's versus homosapiens.

I know my opinion seems backwards and controversial, but I often wonder how many 'hungry" bear attacks could be avoided if we just threw chocolate bars at them instead of pepper spray....

Sally Likes This

I wish this new trend would go away. The trend of capitalizing on the sheeple mentality of the people. Why is it that every so-called legitimate online news organization now rates their articles based on--"most popular", "most read", "most emailed...?" Besides the curiosity factor (like why are so many people interested in that dumb story?) It is useless and actually harmful information.
I fear it will simply dumb down all the media, as you can tell the "most popular" article is usually something like: "suburban mom gives child to grizzly bear", or "stupid celebrity is having another affair", This is not helping the information quality that we receive. And the rush to get these trivial stories to the internet press results in articles written at a third grade level. I can't even believe the grammar and spelling errors--using spell check , but not understanding the meaning of the word, has disastrous results.
Even worse, Facebook has normalized the trend to write : "Becky likes this" or whatever on every comment ever written. Good grief!! Who cares?? Becky could be a psychopath for all I know.
I thought we adults eventually grow out of the high school phase, interested in only what the popular kids are doing and thinking--apparently not. What happened to caring about what is actually best?

Al Gore and Global Warming

I'll admit I was reading a bit about the ridiculous Al and Tipper Gore divorce scandal. I'm not really interested who caused it, but that said, I am saddened by a solid-looking union calling it quits...
But moving on...this story led me to read about other Al Gore events I was not aware of--namely the California home he bought in April. This I found even more interesting than the divorce, as I firmly believe huge houses are environmental nightmares. No matter how many solar panels you have--they usually are a resource and energy drain. So I wanted to cut Al some slack and tried to research the square footage of said controversial property--is it really ostentatious or maybe just a tad fancy??

Instead I was hit by the brutal reminder that many, many Americans believe that Al Gore started a Global warming hoax. This absolutely blows my mind. I do remember a statistic somewhere about the percentage of Global warming believers in the USA declining. But what are they denying ---that the earth is warming--or that humans caused it?? Denying the earth is warming reminds me of ancient history--when people would argue about the earth being flat. Anyone who doesn't believe in climate change should just travel a bit and get off their fox news watching couch. They'll see how respected scientists all over the world agree on this topic, how certain islands are going under water, the ice caps are melting--just look people. (seeing is believing)

I can better understand the "humans caused this" factor being controversial-it's probably more vague. But who cares who caused it?? If new energy sources and carbon caps can curb this event from happening faster--why be against it??? Instead like little toddlers they argue about who broke the toy (or lying that the toy is not broken at all) instead of just cleaning it up. Weird. It just makes me worry about Americans in general and their ability to compete with international scientific minds. Are we doomed folks??

I Think I Give Up

I just don't know what to think. I usually have this enthusiasm to follow politics, read about what is going on, but not anymore.
This is the first time in my life that I don't want to read the newspaper or watch the evening news. Sometimes I even find it hard to be out and about and overhear others conversations. Hopefully it is just an Alaska thing--surrounded by folks that drink up Fox news and worship in Palinville. People that don't read and research anything intellectual and are following the party of "no".

It seems the majority around me just wants to spread negativity and lies. When the Democrats got mad at Bush they actually waited until something really devastating came up--like a needless & expensive war. Killing tons of people, and causing injury and destruction. What kind of country am I living in when people get more angry and crazed out of their mind about health care regulations, than having their tax dollars go to fund brain injuries & deaths to our own soldiers? How can we trust government warfare if we can't trust government health care?

Iditarod Dreams

The Iditarod makes me cry--especially watching the ending at Front Street in Nome, Alaska. (they show this live on TV in Alaska).
But I do not cry out of sadness for the doggies or something like that. No, I cry because the Iditarod sled dog race--1,000 miles through remote Alaskan wilderness is just so incredible. These mushers don't sleep, get hit by trees, suffer broken bones & illness--some of the most adventurous athletes I have ever seen.
And the craziness of the trail--moose, wolves, half frozen rivers, -40 degree temperatures. It's so wild and primitive. And just about 70 humans a year try this sort of thing.
Compare that to the millions upon millions sitting at their desks , sipping coffee, driving a Honda home after work to watch CSI on TV--that's about as adventurous as most Americans get.
But here is this great sled dog race-- completely wild and difficult. It touches my heart that dreamers everywhere can still pursue this sort of crazy challenge--that everything hasn't been made boring and safe. And one can still dream of a wild and beautiful world.....

Why do Sled Dogs Keep Running???

I know there are quite a few animal groups out there that despise the really long Alaskan sled dog races--like the Yukon Quest and Iditarod. Mostly because these crazy races have dogs running about 1,000 miles in approximately 10 days. The leader's dogs often only sleep about 7 hours per day and run almost 17 daily. That is nuts!

It is true that dogs get injured (but so do almost all the humans), and that their lungs take a toll (as do human marathon racers). And their paws need constant ointment and booties to keep going....so the question is:-- is this some kind of dog abuse?

Some make the claim--"well the dogs didn't volunteer for the race-- the humans make them do it." But I ask: what dog anywhere really has a choice about anything?? (except for one of my nutty dogs that wandered in from the street as a stray, refused to leave and is now our dog!) I mean, does any dog request to be a latch-key dog--left alone in a crate for 9 hours while their owners toil at work??

And then some people keep up the old notion that the dogs are whipped to keep going. Nice try--used to happen (that's the truth) but so many people now watch the race & times have changed that you really couldn't get away with it....

So why do these doggies run like this??? Well I think I have the answer--simply because I have a crazy Alaskan sled dog at home.

She is the weirdest thing ever. Somewhat feral & wild. Obsessed with competition and pack order. She always tries to show off and would never say no to a sprint race . She stays up for days on end if we are on a road trip...always excited about more excitement. We know this crazy animal would run until she dies--it is in her blood.

Not only does she love the spirit of competition, she wants to do whatever the "alpha" wants to do. Not to please him I think, but just to be like him. So as long as the musher is awake and the dogs know what they need to do--they will keep on running...these are not the same dogs you find in the lower 48, they can't be compared.

Worst Week for Alaska Wolves

As long as I have lived in Alaska now, I have never seen such a ridiculously bad week for the Alaskan wolves.
First of all, Denali National Park and various organizations had requested the Alaska Game Board to extend the wolf buffer outside Denali Park. In other words--wolves that are watched (and even radio collared) in Denali would be able to roam outside park boundaries without fear of trapping. But no, the Board of Game voted instead to REDUCE the buffer for the most viewed wolves in Alaska--hence increasing the chance for them to be trapped instead of having a tourist photograph them. The crazy part of this, is the reasons the "so-called-adults" on the Alaska Game Board gave for this decision.
One reason: "Why would someone from New York want to see a wolf that comes right up to a tour bus?" Secondly: "The feds and wildlife organizations have pushed us too far". So in effect they are saying--we will not protect these wolves because:
A) we are too narrow minded to understand city people.
B) out of spite to the Feds.
Next comes the appointment of the new head of Alaska Wildlife conservation--who's only mission is to maximize species for hunting them down--and therefore more wolf shooting (known as predator control).
Lastly, the Alaskan wolves themselves decided--"well hey, everyone hates us this week anyway, so lets do a heinous act to show just how bad-ass we really can be". And they proceeded to eat a lower 48 school teacher that was out jogging in a remote Alaskan village. My condolences to the family. But note to anyone coming to Alaska--you can not jog around predators (or even loose dogs) they have a chase instinct! I wish someone could have warned the poor girl.

The Alaska Department of Wildlife Conservation needs to be contacted, as well as the tour companies (www.Princesslodges.com & www.Graylinealaska.com) two of the biggest with financial stakes in wolf viewing, especially around Denali. They need to lobby the state to protect opportunities for tourists to view wildlife.