Alaska Answers

Someone in Valdez (remember….rhymes with cheese!) called the police to report cruelty to animals. Seems like they saw someone giving a ride to a hamster in a remote control car, which they had doing ‘wheelies’.

Alaska has the highest % of men and lowest % of women of any other state. They claim there are 10 good men for every woman up here. Some smartypants woman (nope, you’re wrong…not me, this time!) countered with, “Well, yes, the odds are good…but the goods are odd!”

Wasilla was declared the ‘Duct Tape Capitol of the USA’ when its Wal Mart sold more duct tape than any other Wal Mart in the world. They sold over 314 ft. of tape for each and every resident in Wasilla. Wow, that’s a lotta tape. I know I sure used my share! That stuff is good for all kinda things!

Alaskans are among the highest per capita owners of vanity plates in the nation. Among my favorite is: PB4UGO. Pretty good advice, eh?

Q. Someone named Bonnie would like to know: How long does it stay dark in Alaska? And Camille would like to know: Is it dark and light as in most places; or dark for a long time and then light for a long time?

A. Camille, and Bonnie, I’ll answer you briefly here. For a fuller explanation, I’d like to ask you to take a look in the following archives:

Try an entry titled Darkness in Alaska, dated 9/4/05.
See Summer In Alaska, dated 9/15/05, and
Reason for Darkness and Light, dated 9/27/05

Lots of people are fascinated by our dark and light periods. I know the whole first couple years I lived up here, I was just in ’shock and awe’ (to use the phrase in a better way than we hear on TV!)

Our state is so big that the dark and light varies greatly. Here in our area, we have about 5-6 hours of light in the winter (from 10 a.m. til 3:30 or 4:00 p.m.) and about 4-5 hours of dark, I’d say in the summer, maybe between about midnight and 4:00 a.m., although it isn’t totally black even then.
If you want to see really dark and really light, spend a year in Barrow, up on the Arctic Ocean. There the sun sets on November 18th and doesn’t rise again until January 23!

I’m just happy our incredible light is returning this time of year. Each day sees a few minutes increase of light and that really adds up over a 10 day period. Enough to notice. Yeah! Take care. -BJ

Q. Can you tell me about the student to teacher ratio in your public schools? Thanks. -Sunday

A. I’m wondering if you are a prospective teacher planning to come here, or a parent coming and wondering what the educational opportunities are for your children? Well, either way, I think it is better news that in some parts of the U.S.A. Up here, in elementary schools, they strive for not more than 18 kids to 1 teacher in kindergarten; and as the ages go up, still try for not more than 20-25 kids per teacher. If there are slightly more kids, there is usually an assistant in the room.

There are a lot of private Christian schools up here too. They range from small to a few large ones, such as Anchorage Baptist Temple’s school, with full sports programs and all. My daughter, who has a Master’s degree in English Literature, teaches British Lit and grammar at a local Christian school, and she has just 12 students. So it varies greatly. You can pretty much find what you want. You will find even the small private schools try to hire qualified people with the proper degrees.

Alaska is very, very home school friendly also. You can get your own course of study from wherever you prefer, or if you choose to use state courses, the State of Alaska will furnish absolutely everything you need from art kits, lab equipment, electronic equipment, even down to paperclips! It doeesn’t matter if you live right on a school bus line, you can educate your child at home if you want and the state is very helpful. We know this firsthand.

There are also good opportunities for higher education. If you want to be a teacher, and are willing to work in a remote area when you complete your education, provision is made for forgiveness of your student loans. Another good opportunity is if you want a degree in biology and will work in the fisheries/wildlife arena. You can check all this out at a website called www.alaskaadvantage.state.ak.us or by calling their toll free # at 1-800-441-2962. Hope this helps. -Bonnie J.

Q. Why are mosquitoes so big in Alaska? -Linda

A. Well, they have to be big to be known as the state bird! Not really, the willow ptarmigan is our state bird. Some people claim our mosquitoes are twin engined, but I’ve not seen one with twin engines.

The bad news is that we have between 25 and 40 species of the little devils. Both male and female feed on plant sugars, but only the females feed on blood. They need it to produce eggs, to hatch out and devil us all over again!

The good news is that there are no diseases carried by mosquitoes up here. We have never recorded a single case of west Nile virus, for instance. So although you might lose a little blood in our fair State, you will never be ill, or lose your life from them.

Believe it or not, they do serve a purpose. They are part of the necessary food chain. Baby salmon depend on them for food, as do birds and other larger insects, but I can’t help wishing they didn’t have those stingers!

Dragonflies are a natural solution to them. Sometimes we buy dragonfly egg cases from a catalog, in the spring, placing them in tubs of water til they hatch. Those years are darned near mosquito free. One dragonfly can eat a couple thousand mosquitoes an hour! Or was it a day? Well, whatever, they love those mosquitoes!

One year will differ greatly from another in mosquitoe woes. Some year we hardly have any and other years they are a menace. Best thing to do is carry a long sleeved shirt, and a can of repellent, and go ahead and have fun. Life’s wonders are always balanced out by its woes, but it is still a good world I think. Hope this helps. -Bonnie

Q. From Hunter, comes this question: Can you tell me all about the Nome sled race? Lanette wants to know: What is the general
relationship between the mushers and the general public? And from Stephanie: How many races have there been, and how many mushers ran the 2006 race?

A. In no particular order, I’ll try to answer these questions and others you may have.

The relationship between the mushers and the general public is very good, I believe. For instance, I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t admire a musher. Those are tough, savvy, men and women who run this race. Sissies need not apply! It takes years of arduous training to be able to complete an Iditarod. The mushers even train in the summer, using wheeled sleds to run their dogs.

Contrary to what you might hear from professed animal advocates, mushers truly love and care about their dogs. The vast majority of them provide clean quarters, top of the line food, and lots of attention to their teams. As in any sport, or in ‘life’ in general, there is always the isolated case of a bad apple in the barrel, but most all mushers are caring people. We look up to them.

As to reports from advocates claiming the poor dogs are mistreated and ‘made’ to run, that is poppycock! You have only to attend one race to see the silliness of this claim. The dogs love to run. They are so excited. The musher’s actually have to hire ‘handlers’ to hold back the dogs and their sleds and help get them to the start line when it is their turn. If they didn’t hold them back, they’d already be on their way to Nome before the race even started!

There are required rest stops, and even extra food and veterinarians posted along the trail to Nome to ensure that the animals are checked and if a dog shows any signs of stress, illness, or injury they are immediately withdrawn from the race. So, please, nobody waste time worrying about our sled dogs. They are the elite of the dog world up here and thrive on the attention and excitement. I imagine every dog in Alaska fantacizes about hitting the trail to Nome!

The race of about 1100 grueling miles, commemorates the time in 1925 when relays of dog teams delivered 300,000 units of diptheria serum to epidemic stricken Nome.

The trail follows an old dog team mail trail which was started in 1910 when mail was dog teamed from Knik to Nome. I guess sort of a ‘canine pony express’!

The earliest Iditarod race was in 1967, begun by Joe Reddington Sr. and a prominent local figure, a lady named Dorothy Page. That race was only 56 miles long. Todays race of the full 1100 miles was begun in 1973, making this year’s race the 33rd running of the present day Iditarod. Joe Reddington, Sr. is known to us as the ‘father of the Iditarod’.

This year’s first prize, won by Jeff King, was over $69,000.00. Truly a prize fit for a ‘king’. That’ll buy a lotta dogfood!

My favorite Iditarod memory is when our kids were young, we would go to the races with a hot, foil wrapped, baked potato in each of our pockets. These were our hand warmers. Surprising how long they stayed warm in our pockets…and when they got too cool to really warm our fingers, they were still warm enough to warm our tummies! We either didn’t know about pocket hand warmers, or else they didn’t market them yet. More likely, though, come to think of it, we were too poor to buy them when potatoes were free. (Now I’ll wait to see if anyone ‘bites’….as in WHY are potatoes free in Alaska?) (because they are.)

If you want to know more about the Iditarod, please check out www.iditarod.com See ya’ at the next question! -BJ

In 1991, one of the Iditarod race prizes was a shiny, new Dodge truck that went to musher Joe Garnie, who never even had a driver’s license! The Chrysler people were not amused. Now, something like a new sled, or a new showmachine, Joe could have appreciated!

The Anchorage Convention and Visitor’s Bureau reports that numerous cruise ship passengers have stood on the dock and asked, “Now, what’s the elevation here?” Duh! Well, in their defense, maybe they were just too full of that cruise ship buffet to think clearly! Of course they have also been asked: “How much does Mt. Kinley weigh?” and “When do you turn on the northern lights?” (when we have to get up to go to the bathroom, silly.)

Alaskans are third in the nation in alcohol consumption. This is quite alarming to me since we have such a small population overall. I suppose it is partly influenced by the long cold winters. Of course, it is said that we are also the largest consumers of ice cream! So that blows the ‘gotta have alcohol to keep warm theory’.

There. That’s enough trivia for this time. Don’t wanna overtax my great brain, ya’ know!

Q. I want to know everything about your state. -Rodricka

A. Wow! I only have one lifetime, Rodricka! You know what I think is the best way for us to resolve this? I’d like to suggest that you start reading thru the archives, and when you are finished, write me again. I’ve been doing the column long enough now that I think enough has been divulged about my state to keep you busy for awhile. You’ll learn a lot, and when you have finished, please give me a more specific question. Okay? Keep a notepad handy, and something you read may spark a more specific question.

So far, the column has covered the history of the state, weather, job opportunities, wildlife, tourist attractions, fishing, hunting, available tours, and a host of other stuff. I am having fun writing the column and hope folks are having fun reading the answers. Take care, -BJ

Q. What is the most unusual animal native to Alaska? -Jonathan

A. This is a fun question, Jonathan. It has to be the musk ox. Close your eyes and think ’shaggy, large prehistoric looking beast with big curving horns which droop down from their forehead and then head back up at the tips’, and you’ll come pretty close to the look of musk oxen! Oh, yeah, I forgot; as if that isn’t enough, throw in the hump of a buffalo. They are actually more closely related to sheep and goats, although in size they are more like cattle.

Musk Oxen are big shaggy beasts of the northern latitudes and they spend year round in the harsh climate there. Males can weigh up to 900 pounds and females up to 700 pounds. (about like I feel after not watching my diet for a few days!)

When they are threatened (such as by wolves), musk oxen form into a defensive circle, placing their young in the middle. Seems like a wolf would have to be insane with hunger to attack such a formidable, defiant circle! Musk oxen were able to withstand the wolves, but they couldn’t withstand man’s guns. By 1835, the last herd of 13 were wiped out. Big, brave. macho men! (sarcasm dripping here.) Anyway, it wasn’t until 1930 that they were reintroduced into the territory by the purchase of a herd of 35 from Greenland. They were bought by and shipped to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. By about 1935-36, the 31 remaining musk oxen were placed on Nunivak Island by the Bering Sea. They absolutely thrived there and increased to the point they could be redistributed over other areas of the far north. There are about 3,000 today. Man exterminates. Man replaces. Sadly, it isn’t always possible to replace what man has exterminated, but in the case of the musk oxen, it was a good ending.

Musk oxen have this lovely, soft, insulating coat of hair right next to their skin, which is hidden by the long guard hairs. It is called qiviut (kee-vee-oot) and is shed naturally in the spring. It makes the warmest winterwear known to man!

A herd of musk oxen is maintained right in Palmer, near me, by the Musk Oxen Development Corporation. They provide a nice cottage industry for native Alaskans living in outlying areas by collecting qiviut, in the spring, for the Oomingmak cooperative. This is a cooperative which sends the gathered qiviut to Rhode Island, believe it or not, where it is spun into yarn, then returned to Alaska. The cooperative divides it out among the villages where jobs are scarce, and they pay native ladies to do the knitting in their homes, paying them for doing so. The finished articles are then placed for sale around the state.

If you come to Alaska be sure and visit The Musk Ox Farm, near Palmer, where you can have a guided tour, and see the unique items for sale in the gift shop. Qiviut is made into scarves, hats, hoods, sweaters, shawls, that type of thing. It is consider to be many, many times warmer than wool. It is so light an airy that you don’t feel like you are wearing anything; and yet you are warm.

The musk ox farm in Palmer is open for visitors from May to September. Or you can see a herd in the Fairbanks area at the Yankovich Road area research center for the University of Alaska.

I guess you have picked my brain clean on musk oxen, Jonathan. Write again sometime. -Bonnie J.

Q. What president bought Alaska from Russia? -Jack

A. That would be Andrew Johnson, Jack. He purchased it in 1867 for 7.2 million. This was a real bargain at only 2 cents an acre! However, many Americans thought it a foolish purchase and called it ‘Seward’s Folly’ after secretary of state William H. Seward. Oh, how wrong they were! For more on the history of the state, see the entry I made on March 4,2006 titled History of Alaska. Thanks for writing, Jack. -BJ

Q. Just want to know, do you guys live in igloos? – Ted

A. Nope! Not this old girl. I could never get down low enough to crawl in! Seriously, Ted, I’d like you to look back in the archives. I believe it was on March 2, 2006 I answered this very question to someone named Gayle. You’ll find everything you ever wanted to know about igloos (but were afraid to ask) there.

I saw a really cute cartoon once. It showed two polar bears standing by an igloo and one says to the other, “I just love these things! Crunchy on the outside and soft and creamy in the middle.” On that note, I’ll leave you. -BJ