Driving In Alaska

Polar bear viewing tour offered from Fairbanks

RV travelers and others can take a walk on the wild side with Warbelow’s Air Ventures Inc. and view Alaska’s most treasured Arctic mammal, the polar bear. A new two-day tours takes guests on a scenic flight from Fairbanks to the Inupiat Eskimo village of Kaktovik, located 260 miles above the Arctic Circle.

Accessible only by air, Kaktovik is the only village located within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The scheduled departures of September 5, 12 and October 3 correspond with the annual subsistence whale hunt. Polar bears arrive to forage on the remains of the hunt and are so frequently seen, bear sightings are guaranteed or travelers receive a full refund.

Tours include transportation, meals, accommodation and guided viewing expeditions. Additional departures may be added for large groups upon request. For more information, visit www.warbelows.com.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

How to avoid a dangerous encounter with an Alaskan moose

Every year moose routinely cause traffic crashes and traffic fatalities along Alaska's roads and highways. In 2007 moose accounted for six traffic fatalities and dozens of injury-related traffic crashes throughout the interior of Alaska, resulting in millions of dollars in medical bills and property damage.

While moose are happy to pose for a picture or two it is important to give them lots of room, especially when calves are nearby. But they generally ignore people and human activities. They're more interested in food. Moose don't eat meat, but many Alaskan animals find moose to be tasty; they're a favorite of bears, wolves and humans. Each year, hunters bag 6,000-8,000 Alaskan moose -- that's 3.5 million pounds of lean meat, and a single moose can feed a family of four all winter long.

In winter, finding food is difficult, and moose flood the low areas, often taking refuge in cities-Anchorage's wintertime moose population can triple, to just under 1,000. There, the moose live off the locals' landscaping efforts, eating mountain ash and birch trees. This also means that moose will be more likely to wander into the local roads and highways.

THE ALASKA HIGHWAY SAFETY OFFICE offers the following tips to help avoid a deadly confrontation with moose:

•Never feed a moose
•Give moose at least 50 feet. If it doesn't yield as you approach, give it the trail.
•If a moose lays its ears back or its hackles (the hairs on its hump) rise, it's angry or afraid and may charge.
•Moose kick with their front as well as hind feet so do not confront them directly.
•Don't corner moose into fences or houses.
•If a moose charges, there are few options available to you but it has been suggested by many others to simply get behind a tree. A theory stands that you can run around the trunk faster than the gangly moose.
•Never get between a cow and her calf.