Life at the Last Frontier, Lifestyle

In Alaska, you get excited by wildlife in the driveway

by Nicole Mölders

Garage entrance blocked by moose

When we lived out in Goldstream, one night when we came home from Fairbanks, we could not get into the house. There were a moose and her calf in the driveway. They did not move away despite our car idling in front of them. After about 10 minutes or so, they decided to lay down in our front yard for the night and we could pull towards the garage. I sneaked out to open the garage door to get into the house.

#fashionover40 midlife blogger Nicole in a leather and pearl outfit in #FocusAlaska wildlife
Oliveo pleated leather skirt with Jeanne Pierre sweater pearls,Anne Klein slingback pumps (all own) and sport wood watch with Swarovski crystals c/o Jord

Seven drunken ducks in the driveway

Tuesday, when I came from work, I could see my husband standing in the driveway, nicely dressed for date night. He was looking and bending down and turning around several times. Quite unusual for someone who is waiting to be picked up. When he saw me, he made signs to slow down. I found this funny as I was just driving 15 mp/h, the speed limit on our road.

young ducks in the neighbourhood in #Alaska #FocusAlaska #wildlife
Seven young ducks on the lawn of our neighbor’s house

I expected that there are squirrels or a cat in the driveway. What a surprise! When I pulled into the driveway, I hit the breaks immediately. My husband was surrounded by seven (!) young ducks. Where he moved, they followed him.

#travel Focus #Alaska #wildlife young ducks
Young wild ducks feeding on the seeds that the squirrels had thrown from the bird feeder to “pick out” the sunflower seeds

Now his turning made sense to me. When he stood in place, three sat down while the others walked around him. When he walked in a direction, they followed him. That’s what I call stalking!

#FocusAlaska #wildlife ducks about to cross our street
Two ducks about to cross our street

How wildlife gets drunken

He told me that they ate the choke berries from our tree. I have seen various varieties of finks eating these berries before. I always had the impression that the berries make the birds sort of drunken. Maybe that’s why the ducks behaved so funny. 😉

#fashionover50 40+ woman in leather skirt with pearls outfit
Oliveo pleated leather skirt with Jeanne Pierre striped sweater, Hermes collier de chien leather band, and Anne Klein snake print slingback pumps (all own)

I was even more surprised that they started also following me around when I left the car! We played lead ducks for a while, but then we got them distracted and “escaped” for dinner.

#FocusAlaska #travel duck after the September 2015 snow storm in Interior Alaska
Duck after the snow storm in Interior Alaska

When we came back, they were gone. We were quite happy about that. Do I have to say that they left their black and white signatures all over our driveway? Maybe as a good bye? Or a Thank you? Or was ita revenge that we did not take them out for dinner? 😉

Do you like watching wild animals? Are you an animal lover? What animals are your favorites to watch? Let me know, I am curious.

You can find other posts about Alaska wildlife, big mosquitoes in Alaska, and Alaska fish, game, and berries at potlucks.

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Photos: G. Kramm

© 2013-2018 Nicole Mölders | All rights reserved

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