My neighbor and I went ptarmigan hunting. Ptarmigan is one of the few animals in season currently. They look and act similar to grouse. During the winter their feathers are white and in spring and summer they moult into shades of brown. They are like grouse (partridge) in size and shape as well as spend most of their time on the ground. They are easy to hunt because they are not very smart. I've heard that the best way to cook them is to marinate them in milk which is supposed to pull some of the gamy taste from them. One of my students told me that all she did this weekend was pluck ptarmigan feathers. Her dad brought home four of them. This sounds strange (anywhere else it would be), but she also brought two of the ptarmigan feet to show me. As an arctic bird their little feet are covered in super thick white fur, almost like a rabbit. I was amazed, though I think most teachers were not interested, for obvious (unsanitary) reasons. I put the little feet into a sealed plastic bag and discreetly told her it might be best to keep them contained in her backpack for the rest of the day. She agreed.
Surprise! Temperatures are arctic again. We're back to steady -20 degree temperatures. Saturday afternoon Kirsten and I hiked several miles across the tundra following a snowmobile trail. We were moving at a nice pace until we started breaking through the snow and ended up having to crawl/walk almost 1/2 mile to avoid breaking through three feet of snow with every step. Our legs were close to frostbitten by the end, even with several layers of clothing. At dusk, we finally made it to a harder packed trail that took us home. Those situations are really good reminders of the dangers that exist in this climate. When I first moved here, I remember someone telling me, "Mother Nature doesn't discriminate against whose ass to kick." Luckily that was just a gentle shove. A sobering one though.
5 comments:
Does the National Weather Service do any cold weather or wind chill advisories up there? It seems as though we go through three or four day stretches where we are under a constant wind chill advisory, and it always seems absurd to me. I would think that, if Alaska does things similarly to the way that Bemidji does things, they would almost always be under such an advisory.
Yeah, there are weather/wind chill advisories over the radio, but they don't mean much because as you said, it's pretty consistently really, really cold. I notice that ten degrees is about perfect. But there is a huge difference between 10 and -10 degrees. But then, as you know, you just learn to dress for it. You'd fit in well, with your bunny boots Marc...
LIDA! COME HOME! Really, you're scaring me up there! Come home.
Did you get a ptarmigan? I know you said they aren't very smart, but a person that willingly moves up to the bush might not be the brightest either...
Does it seem weird that I'm really disappointed not to see a photo of the wooly ptarmigan feet? (Cool!)
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