University of Alaska Large Animal Research Center, August 11

We had our last breakfast at Taste of Alaska and took a photo with Kory and Deb.  If our visit to Alaska ended right there, I would have been perfectly happy.  I so enjoyed the Eberhardt family, the location and the wonderful cabin we had.  Debbie told a story about a couple eating breakfast and observing moose at the salt block in the yard, during hunting season.   Deb asked "do you see antlers?" and when they replied in the affirmative, she grabbed her loaded shotgun, ran out and promptly dispatched the moose!  I about fell over laughing the idea of tourists watching the wildlife shot during breakfast!!  Also, one morning at breakfast Debbie brought out a container of gold that her husband had mined. I believe there was $8000 in gold in that small quantity and it was much heavier than I imagined.  I suggested that I had several thousand dollars worth under my nails after that!


I emptied the biscuit jar for our faithful adopted dog, Cooper.  I loved pulling up to our cabin and having Cooper come running to greet us. He never attempted to push inside; he stood politely on the porch and waited for his biscuit.  As we got into the car to leave, Cooper turned and headed to the next cabin. Traitor.


We were thinking of what else we wanted to see and ended up at the Large Animal Research Center.  We had already been back to the Museum, where I purchased Velma Wallis' book, "Raising Ourselves".  Debbie had loaned me another book by Wallis, "The Two Old Women" which relates a story passed down in their clan. The book I bought is not fiction, however, and apparently got her in some trouble for opening discussing such issues as alcoholism and depression and the loss of culture.  We also visited the UW bookstore to purchase.... what else... hockey jerseys!!  The Fairbanks Nanooks have an awesome polar bear logo. We had just enough time to make one more excursion before meeting up with our tour group.


I'm not sure I would suggest this visit, either. You can't get close to any of the animals and you pretty much just walk past a small pasture of musk ox to a hillside overlooking the caribou.  You are separated by multiple layers of fencing, so photography is difficult.  And they end up looking like you've taken photographs in a stock yard.  They have musk oxen and caribou.  I did learn an interesting fact, which is that caribou make a clicking noise when they walk because they have tendon over bone, no muscle.  This saves 1/2 calorie per step which can be significant in a migrating animal.  Their legs are 55 degrees but the body is 105 degrees!  This also helps them to survive in frigid temperatures.


The gal who showed us around noted the shower at one of the buildings as being a wonderful thing, as she (and others) lived in a "dry" (no running water) cabin while attending school and this shower let them clean up after working with the animals. She started coming out there as a volunteer and then went to college and plans to continue to study musk oxen primarily.  She was a personable guide and the things she pointed out were interesting, it just wasn't much of a tour.