Squirrel Friends

I love my little squirrel here on the ranch. Here is a little cute female

Screen Capture on Cam 2

Gunrunner in my chat room on WyldRyde is always capturing screen shots of the squirrels he sees on the camera. Here is one of todays captures. Thanks

Frosty Red Squirrels of Alaska 2

We have had a spell of cold weather and I enjoy watching my little Red Squirrel Friends here on the Permafrost Ranch. Taking pictures of those little cold faces from the warmth of my office window is one of the best parts of my day. I hope it brings pleasure and wonderment to those of you who read this blog. Life in Alaska can be hard during the long periods of cold and dark. Watching the little squirrels that come to my feeders is one of the bright spots of my world. I sometimes forget to count my blessings that are given to me, my family, my friends, and the social networks I hang out in on the internet. Thanks for the support and kind words so many send my way through those networks and this blog.

Frosty Red Squirrels of Alaska

Here is a picture of one of the Frosty Red Squirrels here on the Permafrost Ranch in North Pole Alaska. It is amazing how they survive in this cold.

Northern Flying Squirrels

The Flyers have been frequenting the feeders a great deal here lately. Specially, the Cam 2 feeder being it's more protected from the predators of the night as compared to Cam 1. Here is a shot of a little sweetheart from last night when it was so cold. As it is today here on the Permafrost Ranch, it's 1:00PM and it's -32 Degrees F.

Permafrost Ranch Squirrels 2

Here is (Short Tail) that's what I call this little Northern Flyer who visits my feeder. It's lost most of it's tail, and I'm sure that makes it hard for this little one to navigate through the trees with such a short rudder. Being they use those tails to help in gliding through the woods. This little squirrel is a regular at the feeding stations.

The Wood Stove

Living here in the Great Land, has it's own burning issues. Such as stoking the wood stove. It seems this time of the year it's a chore that takes up more and more of my time. The problem is my hands, and arms catch the brunt of it. I'm always burning my self. Nothing really bad just little burns where I happen to touch the sides of the stove when filling it. In keeping the stove hot during the night means that I awake when the house cools off enough for the thermostat to kick on the furnace. Over the years, it's been my wake up call to get up and stoke the wood stove. That's usually when I happen to burn myself in that sleepy half awake stage of stumbling into the living room pushing in the logs of birch and spruce. Then returning to sleep is the major burning issue and those little burns I acquired make it almost impossible until the pain subsides.

Permafrost Ranch Squirrels

Permafrost Ranch Squirrels here on www.thesquirrelcam.com

Punk Rocker of the Squirrel World

Punk rocker of the Permafrost Ranch.

Greetings From the Great Land

Here is one of my little buddies saying hello to everyone.

Snow Fall

We have had a snow drought, this winter and last, but in the last week, we have had plenty of snow fall. It's something we have to deal with, and here in the interior of Alaska once the snow falls, it doesn't leave until breakup. So, now it's up to me to make sure the sheds and even the house roof is cleared. The first picture is the snow fall on the cam2 feeder for 17 Jan 08 and the second is the snow fall last night on the 20 Jan 08.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk 2

Here is what the sidewalks look like this morning here in my part of the world.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk

Do you remember that song by Johnny Cash, "Sunday Morning Sidewalk" Sitting here drinking my first cup of coffee, and that song is on my mind. I awoke with the tune running through my head. I was looking through our local paper and the employment ads. There is not much employment to be found, then I noticed a article saying the seasonal unemployment stats for Alaska is up running over 6.5%. We always run higher than the rest of the nation. If one lives out side of the metropolitan areas of our larger cities finding a job is even harder. Lord I wish I was stoned.

Squirrel Sightings

A buddy of mine on the Internet, named Charles must watch the squirrel cams at www.thesquirrelcam.com a great deal. He's always sending me screen captures of one of the cams. He sees more squirrels than most, because I've had others write to me complaining they have never seen one of the illusive red squirrels much less the even more hard to catch northern flying squirrels. Here is just one of the pictures Charles sent to me yesterday.

Internet Speeds on the Permafrost Ranch

Well after two days of having problems with the audio stream on Ustream.tv, amazingly yesterday the connection speed improved. It's a miracle, because according to ACS there wasn't any problems with this the two days before when it sounded to my listeners that the conversations were in slow speed. Remember the old record players of our youth. When we could slow down or speed up the records by using the different rotational speeds. Maybe ACS is playing with the switch on the internet ;-)

Internet Connection Speed Rant

I don't know what the average consumer pays for a medium speed dsl line from Alaska Communication System. I pay an average of over 100 dollars a month. As many of you know, I stream over the Internet on Ustream.tv and here lately my stream lags considerably. It makes my stream unintelligible on the receiving end. When you do a speed test to ACS in Anchorage where the servers are, the speed level is fine. It's the next leg down to the Lower 48 where my real market for my content is that the speed falls to undesirable levels. We pay the highest price for such services and yet it fails to live up to the promise of the broadband Internet. Why is Alaska's cost for services consistently higher than the lower continental states? ACS fails to provide any measurable benefit for the extra cost that we pay and the service falls below what is consistently available elsewhere. In fact Chris Pirillo was streaming from a tour boat in the Hawaiian Islands this last week and his stream was better than mine. It's the same old song and dance for Alaskans. Whether it be in fuel prices or consumer goods and services. The consumer is short changed for the price we pay.

Frosty Whiskers

Here is a couple of shots of my frosty little buddy, here on the Permafrost Ranch. Living in the far north, we are expecting extreme cold weather the next few days.

Frosty Snack at the Feeder

It never ceases to amaze me how the little squirrel that inhabit this land of ice and snow survive. Here is a shot of my little buddy snacking at the feeder this afternoon.

Flyers at the feeder Jan 08

Every night the flyers visit the feeders here on the Permafrost Ranch. They are such a pleasure to watch, but capturing them with a camera is tricky. They spook really easy and when they see me at the window. They quickly take off. I've yet to be able to get close to one of them even after years of trying. I can get a red squirrel to eat from my hand with time, but these little ones are something else to try and get close to. Is there anyone else out there who have been able to get close enough to hand feed.

2008 New Years Day

Happy New Years from all us Squirrels here on the Permafrost Ranch