Made it to Solstice - Almost Christmas!
Happy Winter Solstice for all of you who were missing the sunlight as much as I was! We made it! I’m so thrilled to know that the light will be coming back again now. Yesterday was 13 seconds longer; today was 33 seconds longer. Every little bit counts.
Steve took me to the LARS (Large Animal Research Station) for their open house on Sunday. The weather had warmed up a bit (minus 10F that day, as opposed to the -35F we had the day before), which was so nice. Those of you who don’t live here might be thinking to yourself “Minus 35F or minus 10F - it’s all the same!” but it’s truly not. It’s amazing how much warmer -10F feels. While it’s not quite warm enough to go without a hat or gloves (unless you’re really tolerant of cold), for me it means forgoing the full blown parka and choosing the mid-weight winter coat. I forgot my scarf, which would have been nice. My face was chapped at the end of the day.
The turnout was very nice for the Open House. The parking lot was full and many people wandered the grounds, enjoying the animals. Skies were a pretty blue, with a tint of pink and orange near the horizon. It was nearly 1pm and the sun hugged the horizon as it made its way down.
Our first stop was at a caribou pen (photos 1&2 below). Some of the caribou had what looked like ports on their side. We learned that these were surgically made fistulas, and were placed there so that agricultural scientists and university students could learn about the digestive system. One can feed the animal, then later catch the food while it’s digesting to see how it’s doing. Very strange, but very interesting. We saw musk ox with these fistulas too.
Don’t worry about any negative effects of fistulation on the animals: the operation does not cause them any pain. Also, a fistulated animal that grows sick to its stomach can have helping substances put in directly.
The first photo on the second row below is of a couple of reindeer that were in a pen. They were skittish, and wouldn’t approach the fence when we got closer. However, there was a pen of caribou calves (about 6 months old), who were orphaned when less than a day old, and bottle fed and raised. Those animals were quite friendly and came close to the fence where we could pet them. They wore different colored collars, signifying the herd that they came from. You may have seen photos I’ve taken of some of the members of the Delta caribou herd. They are often found along the Richardson Hwy in the Delta Junction and Fort Greely area, about 100-120 miles south of Fairbanks.
There were quite a few musk ox in residence, and I enjoyed watching them. They are such huge animals, with thick and heavy coats. From the ADF&G Wildlife Notebook Series web page: Muskoxen as a species have changed little since the ice age and are perfectly adapted to live in their harsh arctic environment. Mature bulls are about 5 feet high at the shoulder and weigh 600 to 800 pounds. Cows are smaller, averaging approximately 4 feet in height and weighing 400 to 500 pounds. The name “muskox” is misleading because the animals have no musky odor.
The soft brownish wool-like underhair, or “qiviut,” has been called the rarest fiber in the world. A domestic muskox herd at Palmer is farmed exclusively for the production of qiviut, but Eskimos on Nunivak Island collect the naturally shed wool clinging to bushes and tundra plants, and spin it by hand. You can read more about qiviut here.
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