Pair of juvenile reindeer escape for mini-migration

Photo by Rindi White
A reindeer grazes at the Williams Reindeer
Farm in October.

Caribou are on the move around Alaska and, this week, a pair of domesticated reindeer that had been recently relocated to a home off Trunk Road staged their own little mini-migration.

But these little deer weren’t looking for winter browse; the pair of 6-month-old reindeer wanted to find their herd. 

Williams Reindeer Farm manager Denise Hardy (she’s a Williams by birth, a Hardy by marriage) said the pair were two of nine weaned reindeer sold to families in Fairbanks, Southcentral and the Kenai Peninsula for 4Hers to raise and tame.

They are generally hauled to their new homes in August but another project kept the young reindeer at the farm until this week. On Monday the Trunk Road family took their pair of bucks home. On Tuesday they escaped.

So while many were awaiting election updates, Hardy and her crew were driving through neighborhoods looking for the reindeer. She said the pair apparently got split up after making their escape. One made it all the way to Sears on the Seward-Meridian Parkway before returning to his new family’s yard. The other headed south to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and the Parks Highway.

“We kept getting calls from people, that there’s a reindeer running down the new Trunk Road, or there’s a reindeer near the hospital,” Hardy said.

She said a Mat-Su Borough Animal Care and Regulation officer successfully roped that deer and brought it safely back to its new family, but not before the deer had crossed Parks Highway a few times.

Hardy said she was amazed that the other reindeer made it back to its new owner’s yard after its little trek to Sears.

“He hadn’t even been there 24 hours and he still managed to get back there,” she said.

“They are domesticated deer. They were born on our farm and they’ve always been around other animals on the farm. We hoped that they would find a farm and just hang out there,” she said.

Reindeer occasionally get out on the farm, Hardy said. But being herd animals, they don’t venture far.

“They run around the fence and try to figure out how to get back in. When these poor little guys were transported to a whole new area, they were just trying to get back to their herd,” she said.

The pair of bucks made it back home safely – the one that traveled to Sears was skittish but eventually boarded a trailer that Ernie, a friendly 7-year-old neutered male reindeer from the younger bucks’ herd, was in. Hardy had brought the elder deer along to help calm and lure the juveniles – a strategy that paid off.

Hardy said the pair are adjusting to their new home in the trailer, with Ernie’s company for now. Soon they’ll be learning how to walk on a halter with their new owners and, by next summer, will likely be trotting around a show ring at the Alaska State Fair. Raising and showing reindeer is becoming more popular, Hardy said. Four were at the fair this year; three from the Williams farm and one from another reindeer farm. With nine being groomed for the fair next year, chances are competition is going to be tough.

In related news, the Reindeer Farm held its second round of Halloween Fun events this year, with a hay bale maze, haunted barn, country hoe-down, pony rides, pumpkin patch and more. People from all over the area descended on the farm each Saturday in October for fall fun. Hardy said a Christmas celebration is planned as well, with hay rides, singing, tours of the reindeer herd and visits with Santa. It's scheduled for Dec. 21 through 24. For more information about the event, check out the farm's events page.

-- Rindi White

Goodbye snow, hello litter!

Photo courtesy Mat-Su Borough
Trash dragged from the trees awaits pickup
during a recent community cleanup.

Snow is mostly gone and that means the detritus of fall and winter is making itself hideously evident. Our neighborhood’s public spaces are littered with blown-around cardboard boxes, gritty food wrappers and two seasons’ worth of litter. Thank goodness it’s clean-up time!

The city of Palmer is expanding its cleanup day into a whole week this year, giving residents more time to gather things up.

Ailis Vann, administrative assistant and cleanup coordinator at the city, said the expanded cleanup event this year accommodates people who wanted to pitch in but weren’t able to do so on a Saturday. Several had asked for a different day or expanded time, she said.

Fans of the post-cleanup barbecue, don’t fret – there will still be grilled dogs and treats available on Saturday for the Greater Palmer Chamber of Commerce cleanup day.The Palmer Chamber asks volunteers to sign up by 9 a.m. at the pavilion across the street from the library. Meet back at 1:30 p.m. for the free lunch. Children taking part will be eligible for great prizes, including six bicycles from Palmer retailer Backcountry Bike and Ski. Valley Center for Recycling Solutions and Ready Recycles will also be there, with bins where recyclable litter can be turned in.

For those who want to clean up their neighborhood during the week, Vann said residents could stop by Palmer Public Works at 1316A S. Bonanza St. during business hours to pick up the big yellow ALPAR cleanup bags. Litter pickers can drop full bags off at Public Works throughout the week, or save them up and haul them over to the downtown pavilion on Saturday.

One of the most exciting changes this year, Vann said, is that the city will also be collecting yard waste – leaves and grass clippings – which will be taken to Palmer hay and sod seller Country Garden Farms, where it will be turned into compost.

Residents can bring bags full of yard waste (a small amount of animal waste is not frowned upon but please remove non-biodegradable trash from the bags before delivery) to a big, Tyvek supersack at Public Works. Vann said people bringing yard waste should be prepared to dump their bags out, not just toss the bags in the supersack, as plastic sacks don’t degrade.

For city residents on the trash pickup route, Vann said the yard waste drop-off is a great deal. Drive around neighborhoods in town and it’s easy to find garbage bins by the curb with a small pyramid of bagged yard waste stacked to the side. The city charges $2.50 per bag extra for the additional trash and most of it doesn’t belong in a landfill, she said. And the city has to pay to get it there in the garbage truck.

“It’s a super-easy way to save money for us and for the consumer,” Vann said.

Palmer isn’t the only place looking trashy these days. Communities outside the city are cleaning up too. Here's a list of community council cleanups, and contact info for anyone who wants to take part.

-- Rindi White