Fannin sheep ewe, lying down in the mountains, Yukon Territories; Fannin Sheep are either a color morph of Dall Sheep, or a subspecies of Dall and Bighorn Sheep, Yukon Territory, Canada. No one really knows. Their scientific name suggests they're a kind of subspecies of Dall Sheep; Ovis dalli fannini. Please click on the image above to view a larger version of this photo.

hey Folks

All things Come Together;

1) I’ve been updating my website, keywording and updating some of the information in the wildlife photos gallery. Keywording means latin words, for some weird reason. The latest in technology presents information over the internet in a language so old no one even speaks it any more – ‘cept for a bunch of ole poindexter scientists.

2) We all know, full well, April 10 marks the date the Beatles officially broke up. Bummer.

3) April 15th approaches. We all know what that means. Yikes! Way total bummer.

4) Next month, May, marks the birthday of my namesake, Carl Linnaeus.

So, let’s bring those  things together; this is a tribute to George Harrison and Carl Linnaeus. See if you can finish this; gimme your best verse.

Let me tell you how it will be
A name for you, a name for me
Cause I’m the Taxonomyman
Yeah, I’m the Taxonomyman
Your common name appears too small
Be thankful I have grouped you all
‘Cause I’m the Taxonomyman
Yeah, I’m the Taxonomyman

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Here’s another in the long line of ‘Name That Mountain’ posts. I’ll give you a hint; it’s huge. Really, really, really big. Bigger than Mt. Blackburn. Bigger than Mt Foraker. Bigger than Mt St. Elias. Quite a massif. The mountain is NOT in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, but the photo was taken from inside Wrangell – St. Elias National Park.

I’ll be gone as of today (friday, the 18th), and will be back in October. I’ll post more about that trip later .. check back in a week or so for a scheduled post that’s a mustelid .. way cool.

After that, well, we’ll see what the next 2 weeks brings.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

Well, here’s a quick follow up. Ron inspired this post with his bear photos from his trip into the Yukon and BC. I shot these bears along the Alcan highway on my way north this summer. I sat in the vehicle, and shot out the window, so I allowed myself to get pretty close. The bears were very tolerant if I moved slowly, didn’t make a lot of noise and was generally respectful towards them. Other travellers stopped, and generally did the same, so we all had a nice time. However, some folks just amaze me.

This one guy drives by, screeches to a halt, backs up, looks at the bears for a while, opens his vehicle door, steps out, walks towards the bears (there were 3, these 2 and another cub), and starts taking pictures. I’m thinking “now this is crazy!” .. but I didn’t say anything .. the bears pretty much ignored him, at first. Then they started showing a little more interest, and I leaned out my window and said “hey man, if I were you, I’d hop back in the car. Those bears can move pretty fast, and it’s not worth messing around near them.”

He goes: “Ya think so?”

I said “yeah, you might wanna get back in your truck”.

He says “OK. I wonder momma bear is.”

I shook my head, once, twice, and then said “yeah, I have no idea. You better get back in your truck, sir”.

Fortunately, he did, and all was well. I do love a happy ending.

Cheers

Carl

PS – Here’s another photo of one of the cubs:

hey Folks

Well, I made it. Many, many miles of sitting behind my steering wheel finally got me up to Alaska. And whata gorgeous day it is to arrive. This morning, as I made my way through the final couple hundred miles of the Yukon Territory, I saw moose, tundra swans, grizzly bears and a coyote. I managed to take a few images of the coyote, and also the bears as they grazed on the wildflowers and grasses. I saw a number of black bears in western and northern BC, but no grizzlies. Grizzlies are SO cool, it’s always a treat to see them, and another to photograph them. This family of bears allowed me to be pretty close to them, and I shot this photo with my 70-200mm lens, pointed out the window of my truck. I found if I moved slowly, kept noise to a minimum, and didn’t do anything stupid, the bears were reasonably calm the whole time. Other motorists would drive up, screech to a halt, turn off their engine, restart it and drive closer still, turn it off again, excitedly stick their cameras out the window, beep their horns, holler at the bear and generally make a nuisance of themselves tended to keep the bears anxious. Soon enough, they (the bears) made their way off into the woods for some peace and quiet – I would’ve too, but there’s bears in them thar woods.

So now I’m in Alaska, in the tiny town of Tok, not far from the northern entrance to Wrangell – St. Elias National Park. I’m super excited to be back in Alaska, and even more so to get back to Wrangell – St. Elias National Park again and dig into my project. First, I think I’ll have a bite of lunch, catch on some emails, stretch my legs, and grab another cup of coffee.

Cheers

Carl