Man mauled by bear Denali highway. Well Alaskans NOW it is officially spring.

Courtesy of ADN: 

A man was flown to a hospital Friday after being mauled by a bear near the Denali Highway, the Alaska State Troopers said Sunday. 

Troopers were not releasing details such as the man's name or the severity of his injuries as of Sunday afternoon, according to troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain. 

The man and at least one companion were in an area near Mile 68 of the Denali Highway on Friday when the attack happened. The circumstances of the mauling were not clear Sunday, but DeSpain said they may have been hunting. 

I have a rule about going into the woods in the spring.

I don't.

Spring time is when these monsters emerge from hibernation cranky and hungry, and if they are females possibly with cubs.

As a rule I tend to stay out of thickly wooded areas. And if I do hike I tend to go to well used trails in open areas where there is good visibility and other hikers, often with their dogs, nearby.

Now there are some folks who argue that they are safe because they never go into the woods without a fire arm.

I have a name for these people, "future bear scat."

Often those people are extra careless because they ignorantly believe that their rifles or handguns have magical properties that will protect them.

That is wrong, and in fact if you read about bear attacks in Alaska the recurring theme is that the people fired their weapons, sometimes multiple times, and it seemed to have no effect.

If you have any doubts as to the power and ferocity of these magnificent animals take a moment to watch what I think is the most realistic bear attack I have ever seen in a movie.

Guess who just woke up.

Picture taken yesterday morning in Denali.

Courtesy of the Fairbanks Newsminer: 

Bears that wake up hungry after a long winter’s nap aren’t as big a problem in Fairbanks as they are in other bear-infested cities like Anchorage and Juneau but state wildlife officials say it’s still a good idea for Interior residents to do some spring cleaning around their homes to dissuade any ursine intruders. 

“We haven’t had as many problems in Fairbanks as Anchorage,” Alaska Department of Fish and Game spokeswoman Cathie Harms said of Alaska’s largest city 360 miles to the south, where it’s not uncommon for bears to be shot each spring for getting into garbage, tearing down bird feeders or ravaging neighborhood chicken coops. 

“With that many bears in urban areas and bird feeders being such an attractant it’s a pretty big deal,” she said. 

The department issued a press release on Tuesday noting that Gov. Sean Parnell has declared April “Bear Awareness Month” and reminding Alaska residents to take down bird feeders, clean up garbage, and store pet and livestock foods indoors or in bear-resistant containers. The release “was written from an Anchorage perspective” but applies to the Fairbanks area, too, said Harms.

As a lifelong Alaskan living in Anchorage, I have a few hard and fast rules in the spring.

The view outside my house. Today.

Crappy I-Phone picture out my front door

Crappy I-Phone picture out my back door.

Now look I am a lifelong Alaskan.

Rarely, and I mean RARELY, does the weather effect me.

I don't suffer from SAD, drink excessively when it is dark, or bitch and moan because I have to shovel my driveway for the third time in one day. (Okay maybe I HAVE done that last one a few times.)

And if you are one of those bitchy people who is always complaining about the weather, or about how you have to eat cartons of Hagen Dazs ice cream to deal with your depression, or how getting out of bed is so hard because it is always dark outside, I have no sympathy for you.  Get out, because some of us like it here, and we will like it even more once you shut the hell up!

However,..having said that...WTF Alaska?

I mean come on!

Before yesterday there was not a flake of snow still left near my house. I just got my bike tuned up to start riding this week, my house is in the process of being painted, and Sunday was the day I had finally decided to get off my ass and rake my yard.

You know the yard that is now covered in an inch and half of new fallen snow. In May!

Yes I know, this is Alaska, we have late snowfalls.

But I am here to tell you that THIS is unusual even for here.

Now if you will excuse me I have to eat a carton of Haagen Dazs ice cream and go get back into bed.

(P.S. Here is more about our unseasonably low temperatures.)

Your moment of Zen.

Falls Creek, Alaska - Spring 2011 from Dennis Zaki on Vimeo.

This comes to us from my friend Dennis Zaki.

Now see if you had been raptured you would have missed all of this beauty.