When you're on the menu. What would you do?

[Goatboy]

The flare idea is a good one though last time I checked you weren't allowed to send pyrotechnics through the Royal Mail. (May be different via a courier service?)
You could always head down to a chandler yard and they'll sell you what you need though.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[rorymax]

I mean how do they afford bullets and so on. They must have some small income from somewhere.]

Trapping and selling pelts I guess.

 

[Dave]

The flare idea is a good one though last time I checked you weren't allowed to send pyrotechnics through the Royal Mail. (May be different via a courier service?)
You could always head down to a chandler yard and they'll sell you what you need though.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

It'll be a courier alright, and its not cheap! [About £16 last time i checked] But its the country youre travelling to, where you'd need to buy them. They wont post abroad from the UK

Trapping and selling pelts I guess.

You'd think that, but they never seem to sell them, [or anything] though. I dont think they have trap lines in the traditional sense.

 

[RonW]

You worry and fantasize too much.
How many people have fallen victim to a predator attack in Europe in.... say the last 200 years?? Dogs and above all humans are far more dangerous.
If you're in the UK or large parts of the European continent, then you only need to worry about boars, so study them and learn their behaviour. That would take away a ton of unnecessary fear and worry.
Wolves in their normal behaviour will mostly try to avoid human contact, although we now have a issue here with wolves coming into populated areas. That probably will become a problem when it comes to livestock and dogs. Bears around here keep to themselves too, but if one is suspected to be in the area, make noise. They too, in their normal behaviour, will try to avoid you.
If they come into camp then you did something wrong and attracted him. Probably by leaving food lying around. Yes, eyeing a wolf or a bear in real life is a exhilarating experience and learning about having them in your backyard is too, but we should be rational and leave all those red riding hood stories behind us and learn about their ways. Their real ways.....

Moose on the other hand are the most dangerous animals around here. They are the most unpredictable ones. They might stand still and watch you, deciding to turn and run or they might charge, stomping you into the ground. Especially if there are calves around.... or maybe in brunst.

In any case; study their behaviour and stop worrying, but still be carefull. The only things really interested in eating you are mosquitos, midges and ticks.... and they only suck you dry. Bit like taxes and banks...... but often less harmfull.

Greetings from an area where moose, wolf, bear, lynx, fox, marten and other dangerous critters leave their mark regularly.....

 

[Dave]

Well said RonW

 

[santaman2000]

.....[Off topic, I'd love to live a lifestyle like some alaskans do. Kill one moose a year, maybe a reindeer, grow your own veg, have a few hundred pounds of meat and salmon and veg in a root cellar, enough for a long winter. Maybe keep some livestock, chickens, turkeys, a few cows. Like the Kilchers do.
I constantly wonder how difficult it would be to go and learn how to do all that, you know, proper circle of life stuff, without any money. I mean how do they afford bullets and so on. They must have some small income from somewhere.]

Trapping and selling pelts I guess.

....You'd think that, but they never seem to sell them, [or anything] though. I dont think they have trap lines in the traditional sense....

Alaska is a bit different from most states. Most states have an income tax (they tax the residents a percentage of their income) A few (I think it was six at the last count have no income tax. Alaska does exactly the opposite; the state government actually distributes a surplus income back to the residents every year (surplus from the state's oil royalty income) This year it was around $2000 per person. NOT per adult, but per person, so a family of two adults with a couple of kids would have gotten back about $8000 simply for being Alaska residents.

 

[santaman2000]

For anybody interested in moving to Alaska, they're also always looking for school teachers willing to teach in the remote villages. One of my cousins began that a couple of years ago. her own kids have grown and moved out on their own so she grabbed the adventure. She's teaching in Napaskiak, a small native village of about 400 and accessible only by boat or air (only by air after the freeze) She loves it.

Not the "self sufficient" thing you mentioned Dave, but she does get to see and sometimes participate in the villagers' fishing and hunting and has learned something of their way of life. A way to ease into as far as you're able it if you will without the risks of a quick plunge into the deep end.

 

[mrcharly]

For anybody interested in moving to Alaska, they're also always looking for school teachers willing to teach in the remote villages. One of my cousins began that a couple of years ago. her own kids have grown and moved out on their own so she grabbed the adventure. She's teaching in Napaskiak, a small native village of about 400 and accessible only by boat or air (only by air after the freeze) She loves it.
.

Amazingly flat - and looks very prone to flooding - is that why most of the houses are raised?

 

[Dave]

For anybody interested in moving to Alaska, they're also always looking for school teachers willing to teach in the remote villages. One of my cousins began that a couple of years ago. her own kids have grown and moved out on their own so she grabbed the adventure. She's teaching in Napaskiak, a small native village of about 400 and accessible only by boat or air (only by air after the freeze) She loves it.

Not the "self sufficient" thing you mentioned Dave, but she does get to see and sometimes participate in the villagers' fishing and hunting and has learned something of their way of life. A way to ease into as far as you're able it if you will without the risks of a quick plunge into the deep end.

What do they teach them? What are the acceptable recognised teaching qualifications? That actually sounds like a really great idea.

PM Sent.

 

[santaman2000]

I'm not a teacher myself, although I did explore that possibility when I retired from the Air Force (there was a big push at the time for the Troops To Teachers program) I can't speak specifically for Alaska but generally most states require at least a bachelor's degree (either in education, or in the specific subject to be taught, or in social sciences) and the requisite student teaching under a current teacher's supervision.

My cousin had already been teaching middle school (5th, 6th, and 7th grades) in Mississippi for a number of years so she already had all the boxes ticked. I don't know what level she's teaching now (elementary, middle, or high school) or what subjects but I imagine with the total village population at only 400 the student population is quite small so she's probably teaching diverse subjects. The subjects normally taught to public school students are likely much the same as y'all had in your own schools. We don't do O levels though; we get credits for individual courses (one subject for one or two semesters) successfully passed and have to amass at least a minimum number of required and elective courses to graduate.

 

[santaman2000]

Amazingly flat - and looks very prone to flooding - is that why most of the houses are raised?

I don't know personally but I expect it's to accommodate snow drifts rather than liquid flooding?

 

[santaman2000]

What do they teach them? What are the acceptable recognised teaching qualifications? That actually sounds like a really great idea.

PM Sent.

Received and answered.

 

[santaman2000]

For those with similar ideas but not an inclination to teach, you might google Alaska's official website and explore around to see what, if any, other jobs are open that might be of interest.

 

[bearbait]

I'll take some dogs with me

Around 3/4 years ago I came across somewhere in BC that was using Karelian Bear Dogs to deter the bears locally. The dogs seem feisty critters, originally from Finland I believe.

Another place I was at just over the border in Alberta was using bangers to deter the bears from that area, similar to the guy with the shotgun in the vid. (I am aware that some bears have learned that rifle shot = lunch bell. And, of course, they'll teach their kids that rule!)

And I've come across the odd place in N. America where hikers, especially small groups, are discouraged at certain times to allow the bears to do their thing.

Deterrents seem to me a great way of allowing us to coexist with our larger fellow inhabitants without lasting damage to either of us, except in extremis.

 

[dewi]

And I've come across the odd place in N. America where hikers, especially small groups, are discouraged at certain times to allow the bears to do their thing.

Deterrents seem to me a great way of allowing us to coexist with our larger fellow inhabitants without lasting damage to either of us, except in extremis.

I reckon that is the fairest solution I've heard so far.

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

I read a few times that making eye contact with bears is a 'come at me bro' kind of thing. It's apparently best to avoid eye contact so you don't invite them for a fight, so to speak. From what I gather, it's best to keep it in your peripheral, so you know where it is, but don't stare it down directly.

Maybe they know more about bears where you live Rachel. Clever men write books, we just live or hunt in the bush and use what we learn from each other. We think making good eye contact with bear means he will see we aint backing off so he'd better. Works for us. Maybe it makes no difference but I'm not trying the way you do in Birmingham.

 

[Toddy]

Joe ? have you seen the tv programme about the Africans who take meat from lion kills ? Literarlly walk up to feeding lions and back them off their kill, cut off a haunch and walk away, bold as brass ?
It was truly one of those moments of disbelief and then immense approval of the courage and skill they showed.

Someone's bound to have a link.

M

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/human-planet/videos/stealing-meat-from-lions/

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

What do they teach them? What are the acceptable recognised teaching qualifications? That actually sounds like a really great idea.

PM Sent.

When I went to school in the late fifties and and sixties they taught us indians mostly in English only even though many of use could not understand properly. They taught us about europe and how european history happened, how europeans discovered American continent and about ancient Greece and Rome and all the stuff they still teach in schools. They taught us maths and english literature and history. Shakespeare? which tribe did he belong to from long time ago?. They never did get him up to the school to give a performance!. And we had to leave our homes and go to big towns and stay during term times.

It was the same stuff they taught in England I guess.

Nothing about us. Nothing about our history. Our stories, our language, our culture or traditions. Before Columbus we didn't exist I think maybe even though we discovered this place.,

Even when my daughter went away to school she told me it was much the same and they had a teacher who even suggested that cross country skis would really help us in our hunting and travelling. When my daughter said we used snowshoes and dog teams my daughter had to explain to the teacher what they were.

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

Joe ? have you seen the tv programme about the Africans who take meat from lion kills ? Literarlly walk up to feeding lions and back them off their kill, cut off a haunch and walk away, bold as brass ?
It was truly one of those moments of disbelief and then immense approval of the courage and skill they showed.

Someone's bound to have a link.

M

Yes, Toddy I my friend showed me the video. We chased bears off salmon kills when we were younger for fun as it was easier to do that than catch them ourselves. I don't think mum or dad approved.

In hungrier times in the past we would have chased wolves off their prey if we were lucky enough to get their before they and others ate it. ~But not bear kill on land - a bear is best left to its food if its caught something big!!!.

 

[Toddy]

That's commonplace world wide. It's supposed to encourage folks to think they're part of the bigger picture.
We were punished in school for using Scots, (children in Wales and some parts of England were also punished for using their native dialect too though) we were taught very little Scottish History, the emphasis was on "British" history though I did question why we were to be taught about the Kings and Queens of England as "British" and not Scotland.

Things change though, and we're aware of the bias and we deal with it. Our children know our history too. So should yours.
We can't change the past, but we can learn from the mistakes and errors and try to do better.

M