Tonight we had a Snicker's presentation in Cooper's Landing about an hour or so away.  Alexis led the presentation and I assisted feeding Snickers and helping answer questions.  There were a few kids and they were loving him!  One kept "dancing" with him while Snicks was in his cage.  Porcupine are a pretty cool animal, definitely smelly though.  I didn't know much about them before I came here...actually I didn't know much about wildlife in general but I was able to find this Alaska Fish & Game notebook on all the animals here in Alaska and it's SO informative.  I even read the portion on porcupine before the presentation so answering questions went well and I could give good information.  A few fun facts about porcupines, they are the third largest rodent in the world, second largest in the U.S. and they also have one of the longest gestation periods (210 days).  Porcupine can't throw their quills, a common misconception due to their muscular tail used for defense and has the appearance of throwing quills when it wags.  Snickers was found by a family in a firewood pile as a baby (a porcupette!!), mom was most likely around however the family took him in as their pet.  He even slept with the kids!  AF&G took him since it's illegal in Alaska to have a pet porcupine and he's been at the center ever since.  He does many of the educational presentations around for schools, etc.  All of our animals here at the center (a non-profit organization) are state owned and we get them through AF&G.


Afterwards we went to Russian River to go bear watch.  We came up on a mama brown bear and two cubs which some fishermen were yelling at because they wanted to fish in that spot.  She ended up charging them.  It was pretty scary...definitely don't want to mess with mama bears and make sure to respect them.  

Today was a GREAT day at work!  Alexis and I started the day being duck herders (I can now add that one to my resume haha).  The mallard ducks we recently bought were put in the moose enclosure to live in the pond and apparently today they weren't feeling it and felt like going on an adventure.  We found them all the way up at the gift store.  We put them back in and blocked the hole they went through but they got our again through Snicker's enclosure.  So we ended up putting them in their pen again.  I also did a behind the scenes tour for a family and couple.  They were great to work with and I think they really enjoyed the tour, especially playing with the babies.  The women in the couple in particular was fun because she knew a lot about animals and agriculture and she challenged me (in a good way) allowing me to utilize what I've learned from my animal science degree.  I actually got to use my knowledge from school!! It was one of those days I guess, I also explained a lot about grain eating for ruminants and their digestive systems as well as how that can relate to hoof growth rate (Mukluk one of the muskox LOVES grain so she has to have her out of control hooves trimmed) and laminitis/founder in horses.  I ran into a lot of interested great people today who asked some good questions about our animals here.  The rest of my day consisted of a moose bottle feeding, a bus tour, and my favorite, the bear shift.  The first hour of my bear shift all three were napping but finally Patron came out to play in the water and then came up to the fence.  Even though most of the shift they were napping I had really good conversations with the visitors and it was rewarding with Patron coming out eventually for the people that were patient and waited or came back to check.  

Saturday was another wonderfully sunny and warm day.  Claire and I biked to moose flats to lay in the sun and then later Marcie, Jeremy, and Alexis joined and we took a swim.  I can't get enough of the nice weather.  Later we drove to Anchorage to meet up with one of Jeremy's friends, Carlie.  We went to dinner and went on a grocery run.  Yet another Costco trip...not good for the wallet.  Good thing I only got pickles and hummus this time!!  That night we went to the cabins across the street (where some of the other AWCC interns live) and had a "dance party" at Jonathan and Scott's.

Sunday and Monday were my intern days outside.  I guess it's my lucky week because I get to intern not twice but three times this week!!  So I'll get to work outside tomorrow as well.  Both intern days went soo fast.  We cut some willow and alder for the babies, Jewelie, the moose (Gilly, Jack, and Nelson) and the muskox.  The moose and muskox came runnin seeing the fresh brush.  Throwing it over the fence....not so easy haha.  Christina and I had quite the time trying to toss it over into the muskox enclosure.  It was really rainy and windy.  The nice sunny weather unfortunately came to an end for the week.  Sunday Nicole and I unloaded the flatbed full of straw.  It was heavy but good to work out the arm muscles!  Below is a picture of us on top of the stacked pile we made.  Monday I also did a tour for a group of school kids and boy were they rowdy.  I lost track of how many times I said "keep your hands to yourself" and "don't worry about cutting, we're all going to the same place".  Gotta love ages 6-8!  One little boy did recite one of the facts he learned on the tour at the end and it was so cute it made it worth it.  I guess they're learning something, even if they seem occupied with being the first in line.  Last night Kat and Erin took Nicki, Claire, and I to the rock climbing gym in Anchorage for a beginner's lesson.  It was SO fun!  I can't wait to go again.  I think Claire and I may go this weekend on our day off.  Nicole and Jeremy also made some delicious apple fritters.

Today was another rainy day.  I worked ticket booth and gift store.  Nothing too exciting happened but it was a fun shift working with Marcie and Howie.  Erin said tomorrow we may be getting an orphaned sitka black-tailed deer!  I'm crossing my fingers.  Not only will it be nice to have another baby around but Jewelie will have a friend.  She's the only sitka black-tailed deer we have at the center.  

Tuesday and Wednesday were my ticket booth/gift store days.  This week they were really fun!  I had some great conversations with the visitors and even met some funny people from Hawaii and a mom and daughter from Michigan who ended up buying a qiviut scarf.  Qiviut is the winter coat musk oxen shed from their coats and its one of the finest fibers in the world.  It's softer than cashmere and warmer than wool.  Only the natives here in Alaska can harvest it.  We have some really pretty qiviut products in the gift store (especially a couple head bands I've been eyeing).  Because it's such a fine fiber sweaters, scarfs, etc. are super expensive.  

Yesterday was a bit of a stressful morning.  It's so hard to concentrate on my summer class being here and I was racing to get my research paper done all morning that was due later in the day.  Thank goodness one more week left!  Uncle Bryan, Aunt Deanna, Caleb, Abby, Emma, and Gideon all came to the center for a behind the scenes.  It was so great seeing them after such a long time.  Like Lucian I can't believe how big and how much older everyone is but I'm sure it's even more surprising to those older than me seeing me older too! Haha.  I'm thankful family is here and am really looking forward to spending more time with them.  Definitely some fishing with Bethy and Amanda and a few weekends in Anchorage with Uncle Bryan and fam.  It's always fun to take people in enclosures and show them around but especially loved ones.  I think Gideon really liked feeding snickers peanuts and Abby was enjoying Hamm (one of the baby musk ox).  I wish I had my camera to take pics of them!  I'm sure that won't be the last I see them at the center : )  I also took a walk and fed the bears some of the cranberries Amanda and Bethany gave me.  They LOVED them!  I spent the rest of the evening reading a book in the observation deck in the sun then watched some O.C. with Christina and Nicole. 

Today was the PERFECT summer day.  The weather has been unbelievable.  I didn't think it'd get so warm here in Alaska...even hot!  Today I was roastin and I think we all got some sun.  Jeremy, Claire, Christina, Erin, Melissa, Marcie, and I went to Girdwood to send out some mail and then went and hiked Crow Pass.  It was a 3 mile hike and it was definitely more strenuous than Gull Rock in Hope.  It wasn't so bad until that last little part.  I was cookin and rubbin the snow around us all over my face and neck to cool off haha. But I made it!  And the view and wildlife was great.  We saw some mountain goats and I even saw my first bears in the wild.  Don't worry Dad, they were far off.  It looked like some little bears and mama trying to cross a big snow patch.  On the way down I definitely slid down on my hands and knees in the snow but it was so fun I didn't even care.  We were singing (well, trying to sing) songs from the sound of music and making our way down some rocky parts.  When we got home we all went to Moose Flats to go swimming.  The water was cold but it was fun.  Never thought I'd go swimming in Alaska either.  It was just what I needed since I've been missing summer days in Michigan.  

Off for some rest and relaxation.  Good night Michiganders and all! 

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYNDSEY KORTE!!! MY PERSON!! I hope you had a WONDERFUL birthday and I wish I could be there to celebrate with ya.  LOVE YOU!!!! 

Once again I got carried away here in Alaska!  My days off were great as always.  Thursday I had a relaxing day catching up on rest and wrote a paper for my class.  My cousins Amanda and Bethany also came to visit with Luther (Bethany's husband) and Lucian (they're almost one year old).  I was able to give them a behind the scenes tour.  It was great to get to bring them into Snicker's and the babies enclosure.  The babies were full and sleepy so they weren't too lively but they bought an annual membership so they'll have lots more times with the little ones : )  They even brought me halibut and cranberries!  Jeremy cooked some up tonight and it was absolutely delicious.  We also went into Anchorage for the day to run some errands pick up another intern Melissa.  I even had the chance to buy Luna (my bunny) a bunch of toys and treats.  I  may or may not be feeling a little guilty for leaving her behind haha but she's in GREAT hands and I'm sure she's being spoiled rotten.  

Sunday, father's day, was crazy busy.  You couldn't ask for better weather... it was the first day here this summer where I was actually sweating and getting hot.  I'm pretty sure it was only in the upper 60s though!  Can't say I'm missing the humidity they've been having in Michigan.  Anyways that day we had an event where the local non-profits had a thank you lunch and hayride for legislators responsible for helping us with grants.  Mike even took them straight through the wood bison enclosure.  Below is a picture of us moving the moose calves (Harvey, Teddy, and Sully) in the Yukon over to the BBQ.  I was the lucky one sitting in the way back with them.  Harvey decided to pee on me on the way over, just another day at the center haha.  With that and it being packed in general the day flew by.  I was bumming I couldn't be at home spoiling one of the best dad's out there (huff daddy!!) but I was able to send him a nice care package of Alaska goodies. 

*courtesy of Doug Lindstrand

Today was busy as well.  I started the day driving to Girdwood to pick up milk matrix for the babes.  It was the first time I got to drive the center's Yukon by myself down the Seward highway and it was beautiful as always.  When I got back I did a bus tour with Christina shadowing and they were an awesome audience asking questions and were super excited.  One woman looked like she was gonna cry she was so excited to see the brown bears.   I also did a bear shift today where one of us hangs out at the "big bears" with a snack and keeps them out in the open.  I got there and Hugo and J.B. were playing in the water... it was so sunny it was a great day for a swim.  Hugo even threw up a stick a few times.  Patron was being a brat and chased Hugo off and even started fighting with her and at one point J.B. went and broke it up and started fighting with Patron....it was pretty cool to see.  It was the first time I had seen them act aggressive and be vocal.  Hugo is definitely the most vocal and would make noise for more treats.  Doug went to the 4 pm bottle feeding with Claire and I and took pics.  With five babies it can get pretty crazy.  I can't tell you how many times the moose will be chewing on my hair while Walter's sucking my finger and nudging me while I feed Hamm.  I def have a new appreciation for parent's and multi-tasking!  After that Claire and I loaded Snickers up and took him to a field with dandelions and lupin for a photo shoot by Doug.  He was a little difficult to work with and Doug wanted me to pick him up.... I couldn't do it!  Hundreds of quills and irritated Snickers just wanting to feast on all the dandelions?!  No thanks...that will be my goal for the summer...get the nerve to pick up Snicks.  Finally I ended the day by hand feeding the black bears... don't worry dad!  Uli and Kuma are super gentle.  I never thought in my life I'd get to feed bears like that.  They're for sure my favorite animals here second to the musk oxen... so beautiful and fun to watch.  They show so much personality and their facial expressions remind me of humans. 

Time to relax and watch a movie before bed!  Goodnight all : ) 

Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days.  Time goes by so fast here it's easy to get distracted.  I can't believe it's already June 12th!  Summer is flyin by.  Saturday Jeremy, Claire, Sarah, and I went on another field trip.  This time we drove into Anchorage and took the Alaska train to Talkeetna.  It was a nice and relaxing day as we did the tourist thing and explored gift shops and had a long lunch.  

Sunday it was back to work and a day of interning.  I did my first behind the scenes tour!  These tours are basically the VIP of the center where you pay extra to get a guide to walk around with you and your able to go in Snickers, Jewelies, and the babies enclosure and feed some treats to them.  If your lucky and your tour is during a bottle feeding you can also do that.  I'm really excited to give Amanda and Bethany (cousins in the area) and Andrew one when they come visit.  My first behind the scenes was a little more difficult only because the two guys I did it for were from a rehab center in Canada so they knew a lot about the animals already. I also did one yesterday while interning for a guy and his parents and it was really great.  I'm always amazed by the generosity of the visitors to the center when they donate beyond paying extra for a tour like this one.  You can imagine how much it costs to run a place like the AWCC with all the animals and their feed.  The other day Erin showed Christina (another intern that just arrived) and I how to do the bison feeding and you put five 80 lb bags and bags of alfalfa cubes in troughs...they eat a lot and it can get expensive quick.  My last two intern days were pretty quiet...Sully's injury from the pack of dogs got infected but he's on antibiotics now and eating so it's clearing up nicely.  We also have some little ducks now that Kelly ordered!  They're pretty cute but Kelly said they can get kinda gross haha. Today I'm hanging out and working in the ticket booth until I work gift store later.  It's another rainy day here in Portage Valley.  Nikki's last day is today so all us interns are going to go to Girdwood to have some fun and say goodbye.  It's also Taquka's last day since he'll be leaving for Sweden to a new bear facility : ( I'm definitely sad to see him go, he's so fun to watch.  It's kind of funny to imagine sending a bear in the mail via FedEx haha.  We'll have to make sure to give him one tasty last meal.  

Yesterday Erin and I went to Anchorage for another Political Insider but instead of Walter this time it was one of our three moose calves Teddy.  He was a little freaked out by the ride but he did well at the interview...he even passed out, snored, and refused a bottle because he was so sleepy which was the first time I've ever seen him turn down a bottle.  When we got back I gave him a bottle since he was starving.  Erin also ended up splitting her head open last night falling off the four wheeler so her, Howie, and I had a surprise trip to the ER where she ended up getting 6 stiches!  Erin's such a trooper though and after getting some Ben and Jerry's it was all good.  

Today was AMAZING!  Jeremy, Claire, Sarah, Nikki and I went on the Kenai Fjords Cruise and we saw so much.  We were able to see 4 humpback whales (and hear them!), orcas, porpoises, puffins, seals and sea lions (yuck), and mountain goats.  It was a beautiful day and sunny so riding out on the boat deck was fun except I had to leave when we came up to the sea lions...they just freak me out too much.  Knowing Emily (my best friend at home) she'd probably sit me down and force me to face my fear ; ) We went to a few gift shops in Seward where I bought a bear book by Doug Lindstrand and an Alaska Wildlife book made by Alaska Fish & Game.  

Off to bed! I have the 12 am feeding with Claire and we're leaving for another field trip bright and early tomorrow.  

Yesterday I started the day interning with Claire in a behind the scenes tour (BTS).  She did so well!  She was throwing out lots of good and interesting facts about the animals here at the center.  It was a group of four women from Arizona that do weekend trips (just a weekend in Alaska?!) and we were able to take them in with the babies.  They were all about the babies.  Of course Walter was loving being in the spot light.  I didn't get the finish the tour out because I had to hop on a bus tour.  They were a mix of people from all sorts of places around the U.S. and luckily the big bears were out for them.  The rest of the day was full of gardening and feedings for the most part.  The center is starting to look really nice and all the gardening is helping.  This place seems to get green overnight.    I think the highlight of the day was Claire accidently locking me in the lynx enclosure when I was feeding them.  I was finishing up and I went to leave and couldn't open the door so I had to radio her.  Meanwhile Kaltag is coming towards me getting closer and closer.  A visitor asked me if I was in danger and trying to laugh it off and play it cool I just said "not yet!".  They probably wouldn't mess with me if I yelled at them but I don't want to mess with these cats.  A 20 pound lynx has a bigger paw then a 200 pound mountain lion...imagine getting swatted in the face with one of those!  After work a few of us went in to Anchorage and we went out to dinner (something other than ramen!) and picked up some groceries.  We didn't get back till late so by time we got home Nicole and I had to do the 12 am bottle feeding.  Everyone drank up their bottle nice and easy.

Today I worked in the gift shop.  The day went by so fast and I had great conversations with visitors.  One of which, I guess I can't really call him a visitor since he used to take photos for the center often, was named Calvin Hall and was telling Alexis and I about what he's done and his experience with the center and helping shoot photos when they filmed parts of Into the Wild here at the center with our animals.  Between him and Doug photography seems like it would be so fun to do (Dad! You should get into that ; ) haha)  After work Jeremy, Sarah, Claire, and I rode out on the four wheeler to the point to watch the bore tide come in....it never did but hopefully I can see a beluga sometime here soon! 

The pic below of the pink sky is from the 4 am feeding I had....SO pretty 

I woke up Friday morning and it was GORGEOUS out!  Nice and sunny and warm (for Alaska that is haha).  Erin, Claire and I took out Sully's stiches and tried to figure out a way to keep him in his enclosure so he wont' keep drinking the water...which he ended up knocking down anyway haha.  When it's nice and sunny here you really have to take advantage of it so we biked a trail to Portage Lake and ate some grilled cheese at the lodge.  It was sooo good.  Erin also showed up some fiddleheads then devils club on the trail.  Devil's club is this really spiky, thorny plant...it's all over.  It looks wicked.  Jonathan and Jeremy went out to dip net hooligan but I didn't join (I'd only get to watch since dip netting is limited to Alaska residents) and so they brought back plenty.  I got to end the day doing a musk ox feeding after a walk and throwing the football around with MT, Nicki, and Alexis.

Saturday was another beautiful sunny day so Jeremy, Claire, Alexis, and I went to Hope and did a hike to Gull Rock.  The view at the top was great and we ate lunch and tried to soak up some rays.  We stopped at the Discovery Cafe for some dinner on the way home.  I was just about to settle in with a movie I have to watch for my online class when I heard Jack, our four year old moose, got out and we had to get him back in the enclosure.  Not gonna lie I was kind of scared at one point when he started coming in hot at the gate where I was standing to open and close it when it was needed...I realized at that moment I have no idea what to do when a moose comes at you.  Finally Mike who was out on the tractor came and scared him towards the gate and Erin used to four wheeler to get him to run into the enclosure.

Work today was...just one of those days.  It was productive though.  I spent a lot of the early morning with Jordan, the conservation biologist here at the center, getting to know more of his background and his work with the bears here.  He had us fill up some spray bottles of apple and cranberry juice to use as a reward or reinforcement for some behavior training.  I haven't seen the work him and Erin had done with Taqoka, our kodiac, and I was impressed.  He knows how to sit, stand, wave, and target.  He was loving the juice spray but the big bears not so much.  I also cleaned up the barn, did some feedings, and we put in a new freezer which we packed with more meat that was donated.  Moving meat from a cooler that had shut off to a new one wasn't my favorite task of the day but at least Nicole and I got a ride on Mike's tractor.  We also got another hooligan donation (we have SO much hooligan now!).  We just recently moved the moose calves and musk ox babies into an enclosure together so feeding was interesting.  I was afraid Hamm wasn't going to eat because the moose kind of intimidate him.  We even got Sully to drink all his formula.  Nicole and I ended the day feeding the big bears a whole bin of meat...I never thought I'd say this but thoughts of becoming a vegetarian may have crossed my mind (don't worry Grandma I still love steak! haha)  Riding the four wheeler there was pretty interesting because I had to hold on to the bin while holding on so I didn't fly off.  I definitely want a four wheeler to play with one day.

Yesterday was my first stressful day at the center.  It wasn't terrible but you all know how the "learning the new job" mistakes always happen and it just so happens I made one major mistake on my first busy day in the ticket booth haha lucky me.  It worked out though since Marcie is awesome at her job and fixed it right up for me.  Basically I overcharged a few accounts by putting them in as commercial tours instead of motorcoaches.  Even though it was kind of crazy because I didn't quite know how to do everything perfectly it was nice to have a busy day in the booth so I can get ready for when summer really starts to pick up.  I definitely prefer interning and working outside but the great thing about gift shop and ticket booth is talking to all the visitors and having all sorts of conversations with them.  One older couple came up to the booth and this guy told me he had a donation for us.  Then he holds up this shaggy looking cat he had...he thought he was so funny and it made me laugh even more.  I told him I don't think she would fill up our big bears ; )  Marcie's bday was yesterday so Alexis made some real yummy fruit tarts and Kat and Scott got her a cake.  I had to take a picture because it's SO Marcie and how funny is a cake that says "Boom Town"  I did the 12 am feeding with Claire and checked out the two new moose calves.  They're so cute!  One of them has an infection in one of his eyes so hopefully that clears up soon!  They're thinking of putting all three moose calfs on display in the enclosure the musk ox are in.  Visitors will for sure love that.

On my day off today Erin, MT, Nikki, Sarah, Nicki and I went on one of the field trip the center does for the interns to Whittier for the 26 Glacier Cruise.  On the way to Whittier you have to go through a tunnel (the longest tunnel in the U.S.) that's 2.5 miles through a mountain.  Good thing I'm not super claustrophobic.  The cruise was so relaxing and not only did we see beautiful landscape and glaciers but since the weather was cold and rainy a fair amount of sea life.  A few porpoises swam along with the boat and we saw sea otters, seals, and mountain goats.  THANK GOD there weren't any sea lions on the island they supposedly love to stay on...I may or may not have an irrational fear of them.  At the end of the tour we saw a huge colony/nesting site of some birds (I'll have to ask our bird lover Claire what kind they were again) on the side of the mountain.  It was a pretty cool site.  

When we got back the center had a meet and greet/meeting to go over basic rules, the wood bison project,  the B.E.A.R.S. (bear education awareness research sanctuary) project, and introductions.  Staff made some great points about the center.  I liked what Jordan said about how it's more important to get across to people the importance of conservation rather than throwing out a bunch of facts at people.  I've been really worried about getting all the details right when the bigger picture is more important.  Ethan also made a great point saying how we are playing important roles in people's lifetime experiences.  According to stats people come to Alaska for 3 things: mountains, glaciers, and wildlife.  The number one thing they remember is the people.  Not everyone is lucky enough to come to Alaska or the center and it's a really neat thing to know your a part of their experience here.  Basically I went into the meeting dragging my feet because I was exhausted from the day and had a 4 page paper to write for my class that's due tomorrow on a book I didn't read and came out of it feeling pumped for the season and luckier than ever to have the opportunity to work here.  I think by far the most amazing thing about this place is the wood bison project.  It's the greatest conservation contribution to the U.S. in this century and the center is literally playing a major role in making big changes.  If you don't know much about wood bison (I sure didn't before I came here) they became extinct in Alaska not biologically but because of man from hunting and Alaska Fish and Game along with the AWCC and many supporters are working to restore them in the U.S.  They've bred and tested the wood bison here, getting them from Canada after a couple people spotted them there, and will be reintroducing them to the wild in the near future in three different locations: Minto (sp?) , Yukon Flats, and Innoko.  It's pretty amazing the work and effort people have put into this project despite all the bridges they've had to  (and continue to) cross.  

Well it's off to bed...FINALLY finished this paper for my class and I've got a 4 am bottle feeding coming up soon.  Missin all my Michiganders!