It's Late August?
/Wowza. And just like that it’s late August! Where did the time go? The puppies have been growing. The adult dogs lounging. The reindeer eating and pooping. I’ve been helping a neighbor build houses. Liz has been doing her doctorate projects remotely from the kennel. Kalyn has been working fire dispatch in the Lower 48. Derek has been doing fire projects in the Lower 48. And the summer zipped by! Below are some of the happenings in the past few weeks.
Derek and I managed to take a sheep hunting vacation! Since Derek and I have opposite “busy seasons”, we don’t often get to spend time together. The past few years, sheep hunting has been one of the few times we step away, disconnect, and spend time together. I have yet to actually harvest a sheep (though I hike a long ways and try really hard!), but the beauty of the mountains and the trip itself always make it worthwhile regardless of the outcome. Derek, on the other hand, is almost always successful at harvesting a sheep. I guess I have a few things to learn yet.
One of my favorite parts of being in the Brooks Range is its vast, wild nature. There are no established trails. Growing up in Colorado, we often followed hiking trails created and maintained by trail crews. In the Brooks Range, we follow animal trails or blaze our own. Trails up steep scree fields give the appearance that mountains have veins. Oftentimes we’re walking in the footprints of wolves, moose, bear, and caribou. Caribou, moose, and Dall sheep antlers and horns are scattered throughout the valleys. For moose and caribou, they shed their antlers every year. For the Dall sheep, finding their horns means they were a meal for a wolf or bear. Birds of prey circle above us and battle it out in the sky. Ground squirrels dart across dry creek beds. Sometimes we find an area that is freshly dug up, most likely from a bear trying to find the ground squirrel in their maze of tunnels. Blueberries cover the landscape and are added to our peanut butter and tortillas to make a PB&J.
Here’s a short video with views from our trip. A big thank you to Liz for watching the Ryno crew while I was away for a few days!
The puppies have been growing SO FAST. I know I say that every time, but they really do. Dracula’s pups are now eight weeks old. Four will be staying at Ryno Kennel, the others will be going to various kennels and friends. Shaynee and Jeremy of Howling Ridge Kennel picked up their two new additions last night!
Our reindeer herd has grown! What?! Yeah! We’re still deciding his name, but we’ve narrowed it down to Tank or Captain Kirk. Tank/Captain Kirk is the future bull of the herd. Both Sailor and Pilot are steers, so Tank/Captain Kirk joined the herd to hopefully keep it growing. I get a lot of questions about why reindeer. And truthfully, it’s a very fair question. For our herd, their primary job will be tourism. So basically be nice, eat snacks from guests, show off some tricks, and hopefully* pull a cart or sleigh. Beyond tourism, reindeer are the ultimate Arctic animal. Here are some interesting reindeer and caribou facts I’ve compiled:
While they might resemble their cousins the caribou, they are different subspecies. There are approximately 55 different species and subspecies of reindeer and caribou across the world with four subspecies of caribou in North America.
Caribou Rangifer tarandus granti
Caribou play an important role in Alaska both culturally and environmentally. There are approximately 750,000 wild caribou in Alaska separated into 31 different herds. The Porcupine Caribou Herd boasts one of the longest documented land migrations of any terrestrial mammal, sometimes exceeding 3000 miles! Due to the remoteness of Alaska and northern Canada, North America is one of the few areas where large migrations still occur unobstructed by humans (although this is rapidly changing). Caribou are browsers, eating mostly willows, flowering tundra plants, sedges, and mushrooms in the summer and lichens (reindeer moss), dried sedges, and small shrubs in the fall and winter.
Reindeer Rangifer tarandus tarandus
Reindeer domestication began almost 3,000 years ago in Russia. Most of the reindeer in North America are descendants of herds from Siberia brought to Alaska in the late 1800s. Reindeer are typically stockier and smaller than their caribou cousins and have less of an urge to migrate. They enjoy similar foods to caribou and are also fed specialized pellets comprised of barley, oats, alfalfa, soybean, vitamins and minerals.
Similarities
Both male and female caribou and reindeer grow antlers. The males grow large, thick antlers, whereas females grow small, thin antlers. Males typically shed their antlers shortly after the fall breeding season while females shed theirs after giving birth in the spring; however, it is not uncommon for there to be variations. Caribou and reindeer have hooves that act like snow shovels, allowing them to dig through the snow. Their coats are comprised of fur with a hollow core, enhancing insulation and making them good swimmers. Their nasal cavity is filled with cartilaginous structures so that cold inhaled air passes over the warm mucosal membrane and is heated to body temperature before reaching the lungs. They can eat snow for hydration in the winter, so a water source isn’t necessary.
