Drum roll Please

The critter count is in .........  93 wild critters along the drive.
Unfortunately for me I don't have pics of all of them.  When you're traveling down the road at 65 - 80 miles an hour, seeing them is all you get.  The animals do not cooperate and stand around the pull out areas.  It's funny cuz there are signs in Alaska that say if you have more that 5 cars behind you, pull over and let them pass.  People are driving slow watching for critters and a line can form.  We also saw farmed critters and buffalo too numerous to count.  Also crows and ravens (they should be the national birds of both US and Canada).
Here's the breakdown

Owl - 1                                          Mountain Goat - 5
Bull Moose - 3                               Dall or Big Horn sheep - 7
Cow Moose - 10                             Sandhill Crane - 6
Baby Moose - 1                             Stones Sheep - 11
Elk - 2                                           Eagle - 8
Caribou - 6                                    Swan - 8
Brown Bear - 1                               Baby Swan - 3
Grizzly - 3                                     Wild Horse - 3
Baby Grizzly - 3                             Ptarmignan - 1  (type of bird)                Black Bear - 9                                Fox - 1

We also saw (not included in the 93 critter count)
Bison - 2 very large herds
Alpaca - 7 (farm animals)
Reindeer at the North Pole - 8 (Rudolph was not there)
Rabbits - 12
Squirrels - 5
Potguts - 4
Musk Ox - 83 (farm animals)
Crows and Ravens - too many to count
                             

Dall Sheep

Cow Moose

Musk Ox

Brown Bear

Grizzly Bear

Buffalo

Caribou

Black Bear

Willow Ptarmignan - State Bird
All white in the winter
This is the spring time feathering

Yes these are our photos - not snitched from the internet.  Check out the critter photo album if you're interested in seeing more pics.  Not all have been edited so they're pretty rough.  We have some great video of animals also but Blogger and I are struggling to get a video upload working relationship.

The funnest encounter with critters were the grizzlies.  We spent around 10 - 15 minutes along the road side with Mama Grizzly and her 3 cubs.  We were no more than 10 feet away from them as they ambled up the road eating little yellow flowers and playing around.  Same with the the large male grizzly and the brown bear (both pictured above).  Being that close was amazing to me.  None of them were skittish or nervous with us being so close.   

We also visited the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer Alaska. Here's some brief info from the farm

The non-profit Musk Ox Farm is dedicated to the domestication of the musk ox, an Ice Age mammal that once roamed the earth alongside saber-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths.  Known to Alaska Natives as “Oomingmak”, which means “The Bearded One”, this once-endangered animal produces an annual harvest of qiviut (kiv'-ee-ute), the finest wool in the world.

Finest and most expensive - a one ounce skein is $95.00.  It is more

expensive than cashmere.  There are 83 ox at this farm. 

Seeing all the Critters was one of my favorite highlights of the trip.

Thanks for visiting our blog.  

Tom and Debra Stephens