BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Alaska New Alphabet Game - name Alaskan animals!

<L> I'm going to give you "Urchin", Bettlemess. I honestly can't think of anything else myself. I thought I had one other possibility ... but when I looked it up, it didn't actually start with a "U" at all. <blush>

Look at all we've learned so far though! Way to go, team!

OK, now we need a good solid "V" animal. Go for it!

Guess I can offer a 'V' animal?

V
Vole

Our barn cat brings these furry little offerings and leaves them ... well, sometimes just their hind feet and stubby tails - on our front door mat. Yuck.

But yes, we definitely have voles in Alaska.

That brings me to submitting a 'W'

Wolf :: This being resultant from my attempt to submit Malamute Husky for an 'M'

Yee-Hah!! Now THAT is a truly Alaskan animal answer! <grin> There are few animals more linked in people's minds to "wildlife in Alaska" than wolves. Brown bears, salmon and moose being right up there with them, but wolves are a biggie.

These tough, resilient survivors populate most of north America ... well, heck - much of the world - but wolves and Alaska are linked in a special way and are not an uncommon sight up here. They are part of our lore and part of our state's heritage.

I actually saw an adolescent wolf once in Denali Park. What a great experience it was. He was PLAYING (well, playing at learning to be a predator, I imagine, but having fun all the same).

This young wolf had a red squirrel "cornered" at the tip top of a spruce sapling - it was maybe 8-10 feet tall - just out of reach for this young wolf. He kept circling the tree and periodically leaping as high into the narrow spruce branches as he could. Wolves don't climb trees though, so he never quite made it to the squirrel <g>. The squirrel chittered angrily at the young wolf and was obviously tired of the game and wanting to get about his business. It seemed to be a stand-off <L>. The wolf could not reach the squirrel and the squirrel had no larger tree close enough to jump to safety.

I am pretty sure the young wolf probably gave it up as a lost cause (or maybe just got bored) long before the squirrel would have been willing to give up and be the snack of the day. We moved on while the story was still playing out (we were on a park shuttle bus) but I am betting there are a lot of tourists with some real fun video that they took home that year to their families and friends.

This next one might be a challenge ... anyone have an "X"?

<hehehe>

Challenge it is... to do some investigative research. I located 2 that are up for discussion

X

Xenomi: (by definition) A suborder of soft-rayed fresh-water fishes of which the blackfish of Alaska is the type.

or

Xeme: Arctic Fork-Tailed Gull; also known as a Sabine's Gull

WOW!
I am impressed! And since I honestly can't come up with anything better myself ... I'm more than happy to accept "Xeme" as the Alaskan Animal starting with the letter "X".

"Xeme; definition: An Arctic fork-tailed gull (Xema Sabinii)."

Can't argue that one.

And do we have a "Y"?

Y
Yellow-Legs

& I have a 'Z' waiting in the background already

Hmmm ... I cannot seem to find a reference to any critter (mammal, bird or insect) whose NAME starts with "Yellow-Legs". Either send me a reference, please <smile>, or submit another perhaps more commonly found critter starting with "Y".

Trust me - I had no problem finding a pretty large variety with names that start with "Y". And not only in the bird world - although they are surely the most abundant.

One BUG in particular came to mind ...

Come on, you can do it ... then I will consider your "X"

On the bright side - you are almost there! And so far, you (Bettlemess) are definitely in the lead in this game!