Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Alaskan Experience_42305

During the opening credits of 揘orthern Exposure,?a moose walks on a deserted street in Cicely, Alaska. The scene is both amusing and peculiar. As fans of the Emmy Award-winning drama series would tell, Cicely is a fictional town,ugg australia clearance sale, but the sight of moose walking the streets isn't. In fact, it's what defines Alaskan experience.

Most papers on Alaska from best term paper would tell that a visitor don't need to go far in Alaska to see a moose. Flying low over the green countryside in a small plane - a favored means of transportation in a state where roads are few and distances great - one can spot them standing among birches or feeding on aquatic plants in ponds and lakes. It would be a different, albeit startling, experience if one drives along the road hugged by woods - one leaps out of a spruce on the side of the road,Mens Ugg Classic Short, trot across in front of the car, and disappear into the trees on the other side.

Moose are unavoidable during winter. They come down from the hills and mountains in search of shelter, and the 25 pounds of willow, birch and aspen twigs that they must have each day to stay alive. Some come right into Alaska's towns and cities and are teased by children, chased by dogs or hit by automobiles.

Moose are among Alaska's most common animals. There are perhaps 160,000 of them in this northern state. Their abundance reflects, in part, the effect of human activity on the land. The destruction of thousands of acres of spruce forest through carelessly-caused forest fires has been a boon to moose, for among the first woody plants to spring up in such devastated areas are the willow, birch and aspen on which these herbivores browse both summer and winter.

A close encounter with the moose can be quite an experience. The Alaskan subspecies is the largest member of the deer family. A full-grown bull stands seven feet tall at the shoulder, weigh up to 1,800 pounds and carry 50-pound antlers measuring some 80 inches across. Once a visitor get over his astonishment at the animal's sheer size, his inclination may be to laugh, as this moose is a ridiculous-looking creature. It has jackass ears, a punching-bag nose, and an overhanging muzzle.

Alaska's ubiquitous moose are a reminder not only of how widespread the wilderness is here, but how close to human settlement it lies. Indeed, for many Alaskans the wilderness starts in the backyard - where a moose, or for that matter a bear,Black Uggs Boots, may show up at any time. It could hardly be otherwise in a state that is largely uninhabited. It has more than three million lakes, 33,000 miles of coastline, 119 million acres of forest, 12 major rivers and 14 of the highest peaks in the United States, including Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America.

But Alaska's wilderness consists of more than scenery; it contains animals that have either vanished from the rest of the United States or are in serious decline there. In a way, this state is North America's last frontier.

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