Bear Behavior
One of the things that makes Alaska so special is that all three species of North American bears flourish here. There is a chance that you may be lucky enough to see a bear. But even if you don't, you will never be far from one, because Alaska is bear country.
Brown/grizzly bears are found from the islands of...
White-tailed kites, Elanus leucurus, once ranged from Georgia to Florida, across the southern United States and northern Mexico, to California and Oregon. The population was decimated during the 1800s and early 1900s. The medium sized raptor was shot as an another "chicken hawk" and for sport. In the 1920s only a remnant population of approximately 70 pairs remained, and...
As their name suggests, spiny dogfish sharks (Squalus acanthias) have sharp spines in front of each dorsal fin. Their bodies are dark gray above and white below, often with white spotting on the sides. They are marketed as "rock shark", "rock cod" or "rock salmon" and are often eaten in Europe and used for English fish and chips. This...
Salmon sharks (Lamna ditropis) are large, powerful, warm-bodied (endothermic), and streamlined predators adapted for high-speed swimming. Reports from the U.S. Navy have clocked salmon sharks exceeding 50 knots. This would make the salmon shark one of the fastest fish in the ocean. They are reported to reach 11.9 feet (3.6 m) in total length (Eschmeyer et al. 1983, Compagno...
Pacific sleeper sharks (Somniosus pacificus) range from the Chukchi Sea, East Siberian and Beaufort seas, to the Bering Sea and in the Pacific Ocean to Baja California and off Japan including the Okhotsk Sea. Closely related to the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), it is one of the few sharks found in polar waters year-round. Noted for its lethargic nature,...
As large carnivores, Alaska brown bears range over great expanses of land, sometimes as much as 150 square miles for a single bear. In addition, brown bears depend upon such land features and associated animals and plants as alpine, slopes, sedge meadows, salmon streams, and old growth forests. These areas satisfy seasonal needs for feeding, winter denning, raising cubs,...
Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are a member of the Accipitridae family, which also includes hawks, kites, and old-world vultures. Scientists loosely divide eagles into four groups based on their physical characteristics and behavior. The bald eagle is a sea or fish eagle.
The adults have a blackish-brown back and breast; a white head, neck, and tail; and yellow feet and...
Arctic tundra animals do not enjoy the luxury of simply heading into thick forests to escape the biting wind. Instead, it is just them vs. vast expanses of treeless tundra. Some, like the Caribou, do head south to enjoy those forests at least part if the year. Animals in the tundra survive thanks to harboring multiple defenses against the...
10 of the World's Largest SpiderWe share this world with a lot of types of spiders and some of them are unbelievably (like horror movie) big.Take a look at our list of the world's largest spiders, starting from the smallest of the largest, all the way to the winning monster-sized, biggest spider in the world.10. Cerbalus AravensisThe smallest, but...
For a long time, kids would eagerly anticipate the arrival of the traveling circus. Inevitably, there'd be a strategically-placed curtain standing between them and some really wild "freaks" of nature. After paying with a dime or a quarter, perhaps, they gained entry into a world of the most bizarre animals, like a two-headed calf.
Today, there are new animal "freaks,"...