Alaska....  a place that sparks the fire of adventure in many a heart!  Much of the state is virtual wilderness, and many people come here to see the animals.  Animals that have disappeared from other states, or are unique to Alaska, can be very visible here.  I have received many questions about them, and have found some excellent photos, so I am going to tell you about a few of the most common on this page.

Interior Alaska is home for moose and bears in abundance, for caribou in huge herds; for muskoxen, wolves and lynx, and for many smaller animals and birdlife.  Moose are seen not only in the outlying areas, but are seen along most highways, and right in the city.   Especially during winter they come right into Fairbanks yards, and gardeners here have to deal with them in summer, much like gardeners in other states have to contend with deer.   Bears, both black bear and brown bear (including Grizzly bears), can be a problem in any area of the state, and it is important to learn what precautions should be taken when you visit. To go to some recreation links for Alaska, just check out RECREATION! 

When I first moved here I was located where I had a good view of much of the birdlife in the Fairbanks area. Called Creamer's Field, it is a bird sanctuary, and I've seen many birds here which are also common in northern California.  Robins in abundance, thrushes and other songbirds, and ravens that replace the crows I had before.   Sandhill Cranes, Canadian Geese, swans and ducks, along with many other smaller birds, come from areas further north to a location right in town which is planted by volunteers, to feed before their flight south for the winter.  I have viewed thousands as they left in October, and they were gone for the winter, returning in spring.  Many residents and visitors spend a lot of time viewing these gorgeous birds, and taking walks on the trails in this sanctuary right in town.  Further south, on the Kenai Peninsula, I found that Eagles were more abundant than anywhere else in the country.  Friends down there have told me that it is not unusual to have an eagle swoop right down and steal a fish from your hands after you land it!

 In the fall I often watched, early in the morning, a cow moose and her twin calves as they walked along the edge of the game preserve next to my apartment building.  After I went to work I often wondered what had happened to them. In mid-March of the next year I found out.   As I left my apartment for work in the morning, and turned into the small street that leads to a main artery, I looked ahead and thought "Gee, I don't remember a horse at that house..."  but as I drew nearer I could see it was outside the fence, and it was a moose, not a horse.  She was nervous, and I stopped as she turned several times, trying to decide what to do.  There were no other cars on the road.   She looked at me a minute while I sat there with my heart pounding, then stepped out carefully into the road, crossing right in front of me, and filing behind her, her twin calves stepped into view!  Wow, how they had grown.  They were huge!

She turned to go to the game preserve, and walked down the length of the driver's side of my car, taking her time, with her calves dutifully following at a leisurely pace.  They were already taller than their mother, and the view I had of each of them, from only about 6-8 feet away, was breathtaking!  What magnificent animals!  I walked a couple of feet in the air all day after seeing them, and although I have not seen them again, the memory stays with me.  I did not have my camera with me, of course.  You cannot leave one in a car here in the winter due to the extreme cold.  You have to keep them inside your jacket to keep them warm, of course!  Since then I've had another moose encounter, and the story can be read here.

The photo, right, is of Denali (Mt. McKinley), and this mountain is very different.  The tallest point in North America, it is  20,320 feet high, and is truly spectacular.  Rising abruptly from the valley floor, it is a spectacular view for more than 150 miles on a clear day.   I got this photo on a rare day in January, and feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity.  Covered in a mantle of fresh snow with the winter sun turning it a soft pink, this photo cannot touch its actual beauty.  We were about 30 miles away where this was taken.

In an aside, when I stopped for that photo it was -30 degrees, and there was a nice restroom (actually an outhouse) available right there.  You have not really lived until you sit on a seat... a metal seat, in temperatures of -30 degrees!  The road from "Cheechako" to "Alaskan" is paved with all kinds of tests.  Tests to find out just how tough you are.  Interior Alaskans are proud to be thought of as tough, and they are.  They say   I have passed the test.  I survived the winter, and the third longest "cold snap" in recorded history.  My blood has thickened, without doubt, and I am comfortable outside in a warm shirt but without a coat, at 20 degrees.  I traveled through a blizzard at Turnagain Arm without whining, and walked at least 5 miles on a moose trail in the same forest as grizzly bears.  I've been up the Chena in an airboat, and across the Chena (frozen) on a snowmachine.  I withstood 20 punishing miles on the back of a snowmachine, which is a lot of fun, but could easily pass for an instrument of torture!  We grilled and ate steaks while it snowed, not a mile from where a pack of wolves had crossed the trail shortly before our arrival.  The trail we traveled was a trapline trail, and I had instruction on the different types of traps set along the trail.  It was fun and exhilarating, and we had a lot of fun! It took 3 days before I could move without groaning.

I survived driving the frozen, icy, snow-covered streets of Fairbanks all winter without an accident... without even sliding around.  I survived the ice fog and the temperatures of -55 degrees without missing work or altering my schedule.  I learned to dress for the weather, and to respect it.  

 I have left the paragraphs above, written in my first year here, because I think the changes I was going through are interesting.  Fast-forward a couple of years, though... and this winter, on a trip north on the "haul" road, the road used to service the pipeline, we saw a lynx cross the road ahead in the distance. I had never seen one. They avoid people, and most here, other than trappers have not seen them.  When we arrived at the spot, there was a lynx peeking out of the willows lining the road.  Much thicker coat than the one at left, as it was October and he'd just put on his winter coat.  He was joined in a minute by another, and both sat for several minutes as Jim, my husband, "clucked" at them to get their attention.  They were as curious as any housecat.  Then they were joined by a third, and after she walked around them, they slowly followed her away, one at a time.  They were absolutely beautiful, and it was a very special moment in time.  Jim had told me a lot of stories about them, but I never thought to be able to see one, as I was certainly not going trapping.  They are magnificent-looking cats.  

The photo of the snowshoe hare on the right is an excellent one!  It was amazing to me to watch these rabbits "turn" in the fall, and my vantage point from the windows of our second-story duplex gave me an excellent view.  We had five of them who ate dandelions and other "weeds" from our lawn daily.  Then, when the first snow falls, they stick out like sore thumbs!  They keep a low profile for a couple of weeks, staying in or near the trees, but it doesn't take much longer than that for their brown coat to become snow white, and for the rest of the winter they are invisible except for their eyes and their tracks in the snow.

The red fox seen below, is very familiar in Alaska's interior, and is seen often right in the town of Fairbanks these days, due to the increase in population of the snowshoe hare, which the fox eats.  You can also find their tracks leading to holes they did in the snow after mice and other rodents.  Outside of town I have also seen something they call a "cross" fox, which is mostly dark, and is actually a tricolor of some kind.

Since our recent move to a home about 30 miles outside of Fairbanks, I have been made more aware of the small birds that remain here in the winter.  I knew there were some, but was not situated where I normally could see them.  Here, I have a feeder just outside the window, and am amazed at the tiny birds that brave the Alaskan winters and don't even freeze their tiny toesies off... even without sockies!  The same chickadees we had in northern California are present here all winter long, and there appear to be several others about the same size, or a bit smaller, but I am not sure just what kind they are yet. My books are still packed away somewhere, and my bird book is among them.  I'll try to include that in this page once I have it.  I have not found a good photo of a ptarmigan yet, but they are common here.  They are a grouse, or game bird, and look much like a dove, or pigeon.  They are snow-white except for black eyes, and a few black feathers in their tail that you don't normally see until they fly.  I have tried to photograph them numerous times, but you just can't see them!

A page on my web site about Alaska that didn't include gold prospecting would not be complete.  I have been a gold prospector for many years, long before I came to Alaska.  There is something about the mystique of Alaska that appeals to the heart of a gold prospector, and most all of them long to come to Alaska at least once in their lives to hunt for gold. We have information for you on this site!  Be sure to check out our Alaska Gold Forum, where actual prospectors in Alaska and other places post messages and replies, including a lot of great photos!  There's a lot of good information and valuable links on our Prospecting Page.  Not only to other sites about prospecting, but government agencies that regulate it in Alaska.  And, I have just completed a new page, The Scoop on Prospecting in Alaska that will give you information that I was not able to find when I arrived here.  And, if there is still information that you want or need but did not find, please email us and we'll be glad to help in any way we can.

A word about the animal photos on this page.  I did not take any of the animal photos that appear here.  I do not know who did, but they were all found together on a family page from Alaska. The Teel family homeschools their children as many Alaskans do, and they have a wonderful educational website.  You can find them at: http://www.teelfamily.com   The photographer who took them is an excellent one, and I have only resized most of them down to fit on this page.  In their original sizes they make a much larger impact.  There are also links there to pages by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that give a good description of each of the animals pictured on this page and other animals found in the state of Alaska.