More fauna every day

Snowshoe hare on the run

Copyright 2007 Lydia Hinshaw

DENALI NATIONAL PARK, AK -- Since it's still the pre-
season here, private cars are allowed farther into the park than the usual 15 miles to the end of the pavement.
After dinner Tuesday, Prince Charming and I drove to the barricades at the 30-mile mark.
On the way out, we saw a porcupine up a tree, but there were so many branches in front of him that our pictures didn't turn out well. On the way back, we must have seen 20 or more snowshoe hares, though not at the same time.
These bunnies are in the process of changing from their winter white uniforms to summer cammies. Some of them could almost be described as calico hares, since they have gray, brown and white fur at the moment. They will pose for only so long before bolting for the underbrush. You need a fast shutter speed and a fast finger on the button to catch them in motion.
I had neither when a fox (below) walked right out in front of us on a dirt road within sight of our cabin Tuesday afternoon. We were headed to pick up some picture post-cards and all I had was the tiny point-and-shoot I always keep in a pocket. It takes great pictures, when there's time to set up, but it's no good for quick shots. The fox was well past us before I managed to get it powered up. The picture isn't sharp enough to go bigger than this, but at least I got something.
This fox-out-of-nowhere experience happened to me once before, two years ago in Glacier National Park. That time, the fox was gone before I could get the camera to work.

Our foxy neighbor