New Life in the Last Frontier


Sometimes we get busy and caught up in work or possibly play . . . here in Alaska with the abundance of both things always going on.  For many of us it usually does not take long for something to trigger that memory of what brought you here in the first place. 

Springtime is one of those times as the renewal of life comes to the neighborhoods all around Anchorage.  We have over 1,100 moose roaming within the City of Anchorage during the winter months with the females calving in springtime. 

One such occurred here on May 25th in a lower hillside neighborhood backyard belonging to Mark McDermott.  These photos cover only about 1.5 hours, from 10:30 AM to just after 12:00 noon.  His pictures show the renewal of hope and the first hours of “Life in the City”.  Will this moose remain in the city or head for the hills?

Enjoy these incredible pictures of new life.

Mom (Cow) lying down just below the deck at the start of her labor.


Note: the front legs just starting to emerge.

It’s breathe and push time as the head and legs have emerged and the sac has broken.


Mom is gingerly pulling the sac from the baby calf as those first breaths are taken. 


The cow is tired but still getting the things done needed for the new arrival.


Mama nudging for those first baby steps from her calf.


Baby Love . . . Need I say more?

New life . . . far from the tundra but in a few months this calf will grow 10 times its present size to about 500 pounds.  Most newborns weigh between 28 and 35 pounds.


 
I’ve been out of town 3 to 4 days a week lately going to some pretty places and also a few remote and desolate villages where we are building a new water treatment plant.  There are several miles of arctic piping built onto the elevated boardwalks that go through town.  The village is on marshy permafrost that thaws slightly during a few of the summer months before refreezing in the fall and winter.  The village, Kipnuk is on the western edge of the mainland Alaska on the Bering Sea west of Bethel.

I fly back out at 4 am for an OSHA inspection in the village so hopefully the weather will be better than it has been in Anchorage this weekend.  Last week the mosquitoes were out in force since there was little wind. 

Have a great week!

Ice

* All pictures were from Mark McDermott’s photos published in the ADN reader submitted photo section.

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