Baker Lake's Wildlife

Where has the day gone that it's so late to be posting a new entry right now? My week's been fuzzy and I keep thinking it's a day later than it really is, so I thought today was Thursday and not a posting day - hence why it's after 8pm and here I am!



It got cold again this week, hovering in the -30's with the wind chill. After a reprieve from the cold (and switching into our fall jackets) it feels like Mother Nature is here to remind us that spring isn't quite here yet. The upside is that the days are getting longer and longer, and the sun doesn't set until well after 9pm these days. 24 hour sunlight is around the corner and we are so looking forward to it!

Another sign of warmer weather is the wildlife that is coming out to play. Caribou are out during the winter, but they seldom venture into town. You know you are in the north when you hear an announcement over the P.A. at work that "there's a caribou over by the ball diamond if anyone wants to see." They were by the office on two separate occasions recently, and it had everyone quite abuzz with excitement.

Can you see the caribou?

You also see plenty of Arctic hares around - they are much bigger than normal bunnies, and they are pretty brave too. The ones we've seen don't run away until we are quite close - one even let Pepper start coming towards it! I'm not sure what they eat since I thought rabbits were vegetarians and there isn't much vegetation here...but they look well fed to me!

This little guy was hanging out beside our truck for a while

Running from Pepper

Apparently someone saw sik-siks over the weekend (basically the Arctic's version of chipmunks/gophers/squirrels) and they go away for the winter, so it's definitely a sign of warmer times to come!

Who knows, maybe Pepper will make some new friends soon. :)

-L