More Wild 'n' Wooly
Alaskan Animals

Many of Alaska's small creatures are ignored in the race for big-game photos. Here is a bumble bee working some fireweed near Nenana, Alaska.



Red Fox are quite common to Alaska. They thrive near people as discarded food stuffs make an easy food source. The fox below (taken on our trip to Nome Creek on the Steese Highway) was just at the limit of my camera equipment and moved off the road as we approached.



All over Alaska you are likely to see Porcupines. Often, these slow, lumbering creatures get squashed on the road. This guy did not like me approaching and fanned out his quills, which made a whooshing sound like reeds brushing together in the wind. The noise plus the white coloration of the defensive quills, makes these guys spooky!



Animals are an integral part of the Alaskan way of life. Below is a photo from a collection by Chris Teren of a whale hunt in Point Barrow Alaska. This annual hunt always stirs up controversy with the environmentalists, but is an important source of food and tradition for the Eskimos.



My best bear pictures are from years ago on the Richardson Highway just north of Valdez. These were shot with the old 135 format and are kinda ugly. However, you can still see the sow with 2 cubs taking their time on the road. Mother bear gave us a watchful eye as she walked right out the window of the truck...we did NOT get out of the truck to snap these pictures.




Refer to the Bureau of Land Management's site at BLM Bear Facts! or cruise the Bear Den for specific bear information. Sometimes bears become problems and have to be delt with by the Department of fish and game. In the end, the bear usually loses.


Always remember: the best defense in Bear Country is to go with someone who runs slower than you do!!!


Heller, Robin. 1996. "Mukluk & Honisuckle." book #3.
From a great comic book on life in the North. These are also daily strips in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Complete information of all Alaskan wildlife is available in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Wildlife Notebook. Real Player format video footage of animals of Alaska can be found at the State of Alaska's on line video archives.


Click on the See the Walrus Oosik Poem for a beautiful poem.


Index of Alaska Pictures