BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska

Subject: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 May 11 - 11:51 AM

This morning's local paper has an article on the Alaska Fish and Game Department's efforts to log local wildlife.

Here's the Article

Click the Link for a fascinating look into wildlife's nightlife.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: GUEST,lively
Date: 29 May 11 - 01:28 PM

trapped? I must say I was sort of expecting something rather bloody on nervously opening this thread!
do you mean 'captured'? or do those terms mean the same in the US with regards to photography?

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 May 11 - 01:54 PM

I used the term the same way they use in the story, lively. Sorry. This is Alaska, a land that has relied heavily on trapping.

It is like using 'shoot' when one uses a camera, rather than a gun.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: GUEST,lively
Date: 29 May 11 - 02:26 PM

Sorry, I think I understand now - animal traps were used to capture images of wildlife.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 29 May 11 - 02:33 PM

Captured also seems to be an overkill word when applied to photography, but it and trapped are understandable when applied to the pictures of wild animals taken with special cameras, especially those with the ability to shoot images at night.

My daughter got some excellent shots last week of a cougar who made a deer kill on her place in the Alberta Foothills country. Cougars are regular visitors. The photos are in black and white (night shots).

She has placed photos on her weather and personal website, http://wareabouts.ca/welcome/photos.html

The cougar pictures are linked directly at the top of the introductory page. The website requires some navigation, but it is good introduction to the Foothills ranching country adjacent to the Rockies.

Click on 'Ware Photos 2' for a picture of their house, a modern ranch-style classic, and 'Weather' for their station, IABFOOTH2.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: gnu
Date: 29 May 11 - 02:39 PM

Q... beeeeautiful spot!

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 29 May 11 - 06:54 PM

lively, no, "animal traps" were NOT used. Rather, the cameras' shutters were tripped. Perhaps you have not looked at the photos?

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 30 May 11 - 03:52 PM

WOW!! That brown bear (is that the correct name?) is magnificent! What beautiful thick fur. And the wolf! I suppose the other one is the coyote, (looks a bit like a large fox) I'm very interested in wildlife, but I have to say I'd be just a trifle nervous walking in that area knowing such huge and powerful animals were about. We used to have wolves in the UK hundreds of years ago, but not any more!

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 May 11 - 04:35 PM

Frankly, Eliza, just about the only time that I've been totally relaxed in Juneau's forests was one winter day when I hiked above tree line, and stood almost knee-deep in snow and the snow blanket all around me was whole and untrammeled.

No matter how fully I believe and accept how slim are the chances of being charged by a bear, the fact remains that if a bear were to charge, that moment might well be the first sight I'd have of the bear!

Even though they are the same species, we make a distinction between 'brown bear' and 'grizzly'. The brown bear is bigger, probably because its diet includes more protein such as salmon. The grizzly tends to stay back in the mountains.

As for wolves, my first summer up here - 23 years ago- I worked in a wilderness lodge. I did a lot of hiking that summer and several times followed wolf tracks (absolutely HUGE). No problems, no worries: I followed where it had come from. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 30 May 11 - 04:56 PM

Ebbie, all this is fascinating! Would a wolf attack a man? And do you carry a gun to fire and frighten off a bear if one DID charge you? I once saw a grizzly bear in a zoo (when I was young, and I don't approve of zoos) and it stood up on its hind legs, it was absolutely gigantic. Finally, what are those huge birds, please? (black with white heads) (Sorry to be so ignorant!) Wouldn't it be amazing just to hide up in a hut and watch for these creatures, unseen by them, and study their habits! It makes our wildlife here in Norfolk UK look just a bit feeble!

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 May 11 - 09:59 PM

Eliza, there is no documented record of a healthy wolf attacking a man in the US.

2. The Parks service has long advocated carrying a gun when in bear country, but I don't know anyone personally who does- except for a couple of park rangers I used to work with.

3. The only brown bear I have seen in the wild, to date, was in a meadow up by Seward, Alaska- and he was eating dandelions. :)

4. Those large birds with white heads are the American bald eagle, which, of course, is not bald, just whiteheaded. In the photo, you may notice one immature bald eagle also- they don't get their white heads until age four or so.

5. The bald eagle, btw, is not black, but a rich dark brown.

6. In that photo, there are also six ravens. They look more like crows to me but I can't see the bills clearly and they look big enough to be ravens, so I suppose they are. A North American crow is only about a third as large as an American raven. Seamus Kennedy, the other day said that our ravens are very much larger than European ravens.

I agree with your sentiment about studying the wildlife unbeknownst to them. I find these surreptitiously filmed photos fascinating.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 31 May 11 - 03:58 AM

Thank you very much Ebbie, I've learned quite a lot! I've seen the famous ravens at the Tower of London, kept there as pets since the legend says if they go, the Tower and England will fall. They looked huge to me, so even bigger ones must be tremendous! It seems that in the USA almost everything is bigger and more magnificent than in Europe! Let's hope that all this spectacular wildlife will continue unmolested and unaffected by the modern world for future generations to enjoy.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Seayaker
Date: 31 May 11 - 07:11 AM

Thanks for the links to the photos Ebbie, the ones by Steve Winker "Out on the glacier" are really good as well.

When I was in Alaska ten years ago they had shut the more remote campgrounds in Denali Park because wolves were teeming up and raiding tents and it was thought that they might attack lone walkers.

I went to Talkeetna for a few days and camped on a site just outside town. They said there was a bear that was causing problems but I would be ok if I put my tent near the reception area. I went into town for a beer and some food and when I came back the tent had been flattened and a pole broken. Another camper said the bear had shaken it about and he had driven it off by throwing stones at it. They let me sleep in a disused log cabin which was bear proof but not mosquito proof so I soon mended the pole and used the tent inner as a mosi net.
Sadley the bear raided a porch on the edge of town and the occupier came out with a hand gun to fire over its head but hit it by mistake. Wounded, it had to be hunted and shot by the State Troopers. I was surprised that there appeared to be no rules about trash cans on the campground as these were just oil drums with the tops cut off. The bear just came on site, rolled them over, raided them, and thus became habituated.

We saw black bears when we we were sea kayaking in Kenai and when we went into the scrub for a call of nature we carried pepper spray and sang the bear song loudly.

I hiked the Chilkoot Trail solo and was bit nervous the first night when I was camping by myself with the Talkeetna incident fresh in my mind. A large whisky reduced the bearanoia slightly but I got a shock in the morning when a pine cone landed on the tent!

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 31 May 11 - 11:53 AM

Seayaker, I've been in Talkeetna only once but I found it very interesting. We stayed at the rustic Roadhouse that night but during the day I roamed all over town- would love to run that hotel.

Talkeetna is the kickoff place for most forays up Denali (Mt. McKinley) and as such is the place that sees the climbers last and gets news first.

There is also a healthy contingent of musicians in town. They come to the Alaska Folk Festival in Juneau evey year. They are wild.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 31 May 11 - 12:55 PM

The animal in photo #10 is neither fox nor coyote, it looks to me like a marten, which is a medium-sized member of the weasel family.

~ Becky in Long Beach
who would love to be in Alaska again

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 31 May 11 - 01:29 PM

The wolf, like some dogs, is an excellent hunter, and in packs can easily cut out and kill a moose.
If game is scarce, they will kill livestock, hence are hated by ranchers.
Wolves have been more or less tamed, but have a tendency to take off and wander for miles. They are the ancestor of all of our dog breeds, and have many of the same characteristics.
A place near here once had wolves for use in films. Vehicles could not enter without scratch damage, they had learned to love rides on the owner's pickup. Several handlers have tamed wolves for use in films and advertizing, and, in northern Canada, some cross wolves with sled dogs, but the practice I believe is illegal. A park in UK has some tame wolves (on youtube).
A recent tv show showed a pet wolf harmonizing on the piano with its owner.

The animal in 10 looks like a young fox to me, but I ain't sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 31 May 11 - 02:46 PM

It looks like a marten to me - but there are some anomalies. The ears, for instance, appear huge. The chin seems too narrow. And the coat seems too short and sleek. And the tail is not brushy as I've seen photos of martens to be.

On the other hand it has the light-colored patch common to martens on its chest.

But not a fox, imo. It seems definitely in the weasel family.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: gnu
Date: 31 May 11 - 04:03 PM

Q... "Several handlers have tamed wolves for use in films and advertizing, and, in northern Canada, some cross wolves with sled dogs, but the practice I believe is illegal."

It's (was?) done in Labrador as common practice. Ya tie up a big bitch in heat outside a town and the pups are stronger. But ya gotta keep em tethered and hungry. Once off the tether, they are ususally shot so they don't eat the kids.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: maeve
Date: 31 May 11 - 05:06 PM

Marten- as listed in the text.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: gnu
Date: 31 May 11 - 08:25 PM

I only ever saw a Marten once in NB. Seen Fishers quite a few times. Mink lots. Weasels... far too many.

Sigh... if only I had carried a camera (better yet, video cam when they became cheap) rather than a gun for the near 40 years I spent in the woods every chance I could get. I have seen things that I doubt many others have seen.

The site is wonderful, Ebbie. Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: frogprince
Date: 31 May 11 - 10:04 PM

Ditto, Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 31 May 11 - 11:38 PM

Thanks, guys. I was hoping you'd like it.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 07:09 AM

Click the Link For a fascinating look into wildlife's night life.

Subject: RE: BS: Camera-trapped Wildlife in Alaska
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 10:04 AM

Pure hell.