Frosty Snack at the Feeder

It's been very cold here on the Permafrost Ranch located in North Pole, Alaska. Look closely at the frost on this squirrels whiskers. It's where his breath has frozen in the cold air and frosted his whiskers.

Day After Thanksgiving

I'm so bad... Guess what I had for breakfast this morning the day after Thanksgiving... Pie Apple, then a piece of Pumpkin and then a piece of Pecan. I'm so bad... And so fat.

Here's a close up of one of my little flyers the frequents the feeder.

Tailless Flying Squirrel

The Tailless One came for a visit last night at the feeder, and brought a buddy along to. It's cool here at the Permafrost Ranch, it's been hovering around the - 20 degree F mark all night and this morning. It's now 2:05 PM and it's warmed up to a -16 F. As life in the far north goes, being we are only 165 miles south of the Arctic Circle, I guess I shouldn't complain about the temperature. It could be much colder. Our hours of daylight are quickly fading this time of the year, we are losing anywhere on the average of 5 to 7 minutes a day. Sunrise this morning was at 9:28 AM, and sunset this evening will be at 3:39 PM. Makes for a very short day. With the encroaching darkness, I have this urge to go to bed early and sleep late. I have to blame it on that, I don't want to say I'm just lazy.

Election Results

Well, it's over. I'm glad, because we won't be seeing any more campaign ads. The winners are celebrating and the losers are crying in their beer. Nonetheless, I've got a major gripe. I just heard the final statistics for the vote. Only 44 percent of the registered voters voted. That's a sad commentary on our election and on our citizens of this fine state of Alaska. Now these numbers are suspect I know. The main reason is that the voter list haven't been purged since the Motor Voter Registration went in to effect some years back. So, what is the turn out, I don't know if we will ever know the true numbers until the laws are changed. My belief is this was put into law to suppress voter turnout. Furthermore, I think both parties practice voter suppression allowing a minority of the faithful, so to speak to elect our representatives. It's a sad state of affairs that a minority elect to office people who will affect the majority in everything they do. Shame on those unnamed majority who feel voting isn't worth their time or effort. I hope it comes back to bite you in the very end.

Nuthatch Bird

The little nuthatch is a regular at the feeder since it's turned cold.

Fatso's beauty shots,

Ol Fatso's been busy at the feeder, you can see the crumbs on his chest.

Cool Weather

It's cold this morning here at the Permafrost Ranch, and -20 on the old temp gauge...but here is a little picture of a guy on alert.

Chow time at the old Permafrost Ranch

The flyers are bouncing off the feeder and the tipi poles hanging on the side of the house...I hear them all night. And Fatso, loves those chopped pecans and almonds.

Squirrels

The reason behind the chatter :-)

Below Zero

It's cold here this morning at the old permafrost ranch. A cool -9 on the old back porch thermometer. This picture of the Magpie at the feeder shows that deep blue color of his wings, along with that bright black and white. Sure makes for a pretty bird. Fatso, is bulking up for the cold weather in his picture. And the flying squirrels are really more active with the longer hours of darkness that comes along with the cold weather.

Tailless Flying Squirrel

The northern flying squirrels that come to my feeders during the darkness hours have these fluffy tails and they use them like a rudder as they glide through the boreal forest. I've seen many a little red squirrel loose parts of their tails in territorial fights but I've never seen a flyer with a bobbed tail, until last night. I'm sure this hinders his gliding ability. Here is a shot of the little guy.