We took a day trip from our camp at Eagle River to explore some of the sites around Palmer, AK. The highway passed through the Palmer Hay Flats on the way to Palmer. That is an area of flat grassy to marsh land with rivers running through it, that has abundant wildlife. Apparently, there is a large moose population there and they tend to run across the road at inopportune times. We have seen these signs at various places, where there seem to be a higher number of moose in the area, that tell how many moose have been killed on that portion of highway. I finally got a photo of one of the signs. It says that 7 moose have been killed on this stretch of highway, since July 1st. It says nothing of the damage to the people nor to their vehicles, which must have been quite considerable as moose are huge animals, way bigger than horses. We, of course, saw neither hide nor hair nor antlers of any moose for as far as the eye could see. We have seen very few animals since we got to Alaska, unless they were in controlled situations or we were on a tour somewhere. There were more natural wildlife sightings, that we just happened to see, in Canada.
The first stop was the Palmer Visitor Information center. They have a demonstration garden. This area of Alaska is called the Mat-Su Valley and it is known for producing record sized vegetables and fruits.
A list of the size of the record holding fruits and veggies is here. Bumble is giving you a perspective of how big the cabbage, beet, zucchini, and carrot really were by sitting next to the life-sized replicas of those winners. Even the roots of the giant carrot look like they would be big enough to make an ordinary carrot.
Here are some veggies that are being grown to donate to the Senior Center Kitchen. The sign warns not to pick them for that very reason. The next photo is of some berry bushes in the garden.
There are also many flowers in the garden. The red flower is called a Maltese Cross flower because of the shape of its pedals. I think a Maltese Cross has only four branches, though. None the less, that is what it is called. As you know, Bumble loves flowers and wanted you to see how big they are, too. The big pink flowers are not dahlias, but they look about as big as dahlias are. They are really a type of poppy.
There is one thing that I saw in the museum part of the Palmer Visitor Information Center. They had a display showing how the women made dresses and other items from flour sacks. My Dad used to work in a flour mill and I remember those colorful flour sacks that he would bring home sometimes. They could be used for all sorts of things.
We also went to the Mat-Su visitors Center. Here you see Sue and Matt watching the informational video at the visitors center. There are some animals on display here too, a moose and a musk ox.
There is a Musk Ox Farm in the Palmer area, where we took a tour this afternoon. During the depression, in the early 1930’s, many farmers and their families were relocated to this Mat-Su Valley region to homestead and build new lives for themselves. They are the ones who cleared the land and build farms and towns. They sold and traded with and learned from the native people. This barn is one of the barns that was built by a member of the original colony. It is now a museum and gift shop for the Musk Ox Farm.
This is what a musk ox looks like. They are actually a pre-historic creature who was driven to extinction in Alaska, but are now being reintroduced. This farm is raising musk oxen to help study them and find out what needs they have, what keeps them healthy, etc. The farm is also an educational tool for educating the public about the animals, by having the tours of the farm and the museum. The musk oxen horns have been cut so that they do not hurt each other. This one is shedding his under coat of hair or qiviut. It is what keeps these animals warm in –80 degree weather. The undercoat is extremely soft and much warmer than any other animal fur. It is collected or combed out, spun into yarn and woven into garments. Bumble wanted to meet a musk ox, and, apparently, the musk ox was checking her out too.
They have separated the musk oxen into groups according to their age. They put the babies in a pen together until they reach one year old. The visitors are allowed to feed them some of the grasses that are grown for them. It doesn’t take them long to learn that the people will feed them. The newborn to 1 yr. old musk oxen do not have that wavy horn on their head, but instead, have a white patch of hair and some longer brown hairs coming off next the the white patch, where the big horn will eventually grow.
The 1-2 year olds are beginning to grow their horns. They start growing straight horns that continue to grow straight or slightly curved up, like a cow’s, and the white hair remains between the two small horns. Earl and I fed the musk oxen some fireweed. It is one of their favorite.
This guy, in front, poking his head through the fence, is 15 yrs. old. We were told that some of the older musk oxen were picking on him, so they moved him in with the younger ones. the researchers have found that the Musk oxen have personalities quite similar to humans. We would call it bullying in this case. In the background are the 3-4 yrs. old group. Their horns are beginning to bend down,, but that middle area has not filled in with horn, yet. That will happen during the fifth year, or so.
The other oxen were farther out in their pastures and we didn’t get to see them up close. It was a very interesting tour and they seem to be having success with expanding their herd.
Tomorrow we will be taking a short drive to another campsite and some more adventures.
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