12 January 2009

Bob the Muskox




It is not as exciting as a Polar Bear, but it is wild life close up.  I named him Bob, don't ask me why, it just sounded like a good random name for a muskox.  No offense to anyone named Bob.  It appeared about 1100 at the super tank and was being harassed by Haley, the dog.  So the station took a short break to observe the wild life that was visiting us.  It is kinda cute in a really hairy, mini buffalo sort of way.  Not that buffalo are not beautiful animals, they are just too large to be considered cute.  The muskox is small enough to still be considered a cute animal.  So now I can say I saw a muskox.  
  A little about the muskox.  They are about six feet long and four feet tall and their hair sells for about eighty dollars a gram.  They live in herds of usually around twenty animals and defend the young by making a circle around them.  There natural predators are wolfs, and large bears such as grizzles and Polar Bears.  Also known as  Oomingmak to the native peoples of Alaska.  The entire herd is around in the summer and we supposedly see them a lot during those months.  Some theories to why Bob chose to hang around our water tank is that he was banished from the herd in a dominance struggle.  Sounds like a brutal world up here.  It is really cold and you have to perform.  Bob has been friendly though, not really threatening anybody.  Yeah Bob is a pretty cool muskox.  
  Other than that is was a pretty typical day.  Went to work, cleans a bunch of stuff up and got food.  It was a good day.  Have a great day and I will talk to everyone soon.     

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