Flying Spider

Alaska is full of large wonders: huge mountains, magnificent glaciers and wilderness as far as you can see. Alaska is also full of small wonders. If you’re not careful, you could miss them. Six Mile Lake recently revealed a few of its small wonders to us as we silently and slowly explored it with our canoe.

We first encountered a Common Loon couple with slightly less than half of the 2.4 average children. The single, fluffy, grey-brown chick stayed close to its mother, as our 17-foot green dragon neared. The male loon dove several times, swam underwater to the opposite ends of the canoe and surfaced, keeping a wary red eye on the intruders. He even feigned a charge at one point, in an attempt to chase us away. We kept our distance as we continued to watch for several minutes, before moving on. Even our German shepherd lay quietly in the center of the boat, entranced by the sight.

Farther up the lake, we came upon several single-parent duck families. Most of the hens kept busy herding their own broods of fluffy grey adolescents. A younger mom was busy with her nine little yellow furballs all swirling around in different directions like a bunch of forgotten I-DID-A-DUCK participants. We didn’t see any drakes at all, but it was Saturday. They were probably on the golf course.

I watched a spider dangle at the end of a single strand of silk, precariously close to my wife’s head. Not wanting to stir up any excitement and possibly end up wet, I just watched and kept my mouth shut. After the spider was well past my wife, I realized that it was not simply hanging there, for there didn’t seem to be anything to hang from, out in the middle of the lake. It was actually traveling in the opposite direction that we were. Then I saw the tiny white fluff of a cottonwood seed, camouflaged against the grey-white sky, floating about ten inches above the spider, like a hot air balloon. I knew that some spiders can jump. There’s at least one that can fly.

On our way back to shore, I spotted a “V” in the water ahead and something was swimming at the point of it. The object was so small I thought it could be a lost runt duckling trying to find its mom. We paddled closer and found a vole dog-paddling its way to shore. It wasn’t carrying anything in its mouth, which would indicate that it may have been to the opposite shore, a hundred yards away, gathering special building materials which couldn’t be found near its home. Or maybe it lived on the other side and was coming to this side to do its shopping. Or maybe it was just swimming a few laps for exercise. I had a lot of questions, but the vole simply swam around our boat and continued into the grassy shore.

After we pulled into shore, a pair of petrels began dive bombing us, as if to say, “It’s time to leave, we’ve shown you enough for one day.” We took the hint, loaded our canoe and left, happy with our new experiences, small though they were.

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Grizzly Bear Tales

The following article appeared in the Anchorage Daily News on July 13, 1996.

Grizzly killed for charging 2 on trail
By NATALIE PHILLIPS

Daily News reporter

A big, old grizzly bear was killed late Thursday after it charged a couple walking up a trail near Eagle River. The 500 to 600-pound bear was the second brown bear to be killed in the Anchorage Bowl this year.

“It’s unusual. I can’t think of any time in recent times where we have had two brown ears shot in one summer,” said Rick Sinnott, a biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game. “Usually, we have one shot every four years.”

The number of black bears shot in the area this year is also up. At least 11 have been killed and two captured and moved out of town. Sinnott said, “That’s close to a record. Last year we had 12 or 13 shot, and we’re only halfway through the summer.”

And it could get worse. “If the drought continues, this year’s berry crop might not mature,” Sinnott said. “That could have the bears turning to garbage. The worst is yet to come, I’m afraid, if we have a berry crop failure,” he said.

The male grizzly killed Thursday night near Eagle River was 15 to 20 years old and large for this area, according to Sinnott. The bear was missing some of its front teeth, and its canines “were kind of broken and worn,” he said. Its hide stretched 8 ½ feet, but it was “pretty ratty, with most of the hair worn off.”

Jeremy Hartley, 22 and Elizabeth Ritter, 18, were headed down to Eagle River near the confluents of the river’s south fork, at 10pm Thursday to warn Hartley’s younger brother, who was camping by the river, that there were bears in the area, Sinnott said. Hartley, who grew up in the area, was carrying a 12-guage shotgun.

Because of the river noise, the bear apparently didn’t hear them coming, Sinnott said. When the couple spotted the bear, they backed slowly up the embankment. The bear charged. Hartley fired two warning shots, then a third shot that missed the bear. The bear continued toward them, Sinnott said. Hartley fired two more shots. One hit the bear in the shoulder, and Hartley was uncertain about the fifth shot.

“They did the right thing,” Sinnott said. With the bear subdued. Hartley and Ritter left the area to call Fish and Wildlife Protection officers. Troopers arrived around midnight and with Hartley’s help found the wounded bear and killed it.

Meanwhile... in another far-off corner of Chugach State Park...

Human killed for charging 2 on trail
By BARRY DELICIOUS
Anchorage Daylate News reporter

A big, old human was killed late Friday after it charged at a couple of grizzly bears foraging for berries near Eagle River. The 150 to 170 pound human was the first one mauled this summer.

“It’s not unusual to have one or two humans mauled each summer,” said Bubba Bruin of the state Department of Human Protection. “People have very small brain capacity and will often startle bears with cameras or those little noisy pet wolves they have enslaved. People often keep their food out in the open and then become selfish when we bears come around and they refuse to share. Their behavior is quite unbearable at times and then incidents such as this occur.”

The male human killed Friday night was 45 to 50 years old. It was missing some of its teeth and its canines “were kind of broken and worn,” said Bruin. Its hide stretched 6 ½ feet long and over 12 feet wide, but it was “pretty ratty, with most of the hair worn off.”

Harry Pause and Claude Opun were minding their own business at the South Fork berry patch, when they first noticed the smelly old human charging down the trail toward them. “Claude and I tried to run away as soon as we saw the thing,” said Pause. "It just kept on charging at us though. We knew we couldn’t get away, so we finally just turned and mauled it. I really feel bad about the whole ordeal, but it just couldn’t be helped.”

Claude Opun and Harry Pause near the South Fork trail where they were recently accosted by a hairless old human and were forced to maul it in self-defense.

“Chugach State Park sees an increase in the human population every summer and these unprovoked attacks by humans also increase,” said Bruin. “Many of these humans aren’t even locals. They wander in from other areas, often from thousands of miles away, and they just don’t know any better. It seems like the farther they had to travel, the stupider they are when they get here.”

Humans, similar to the one mauled Friday night, often roam outside their territory looking for trouble.

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