How to avoid a dangerous encounter with an Alaskan moose

Every year moose routinely cause traffic crashes and traffic fatalities along Alaska's roads and highways. In 2007 moose accounted for six traffic fatalities and dozens of injury-related traffic crashes throughout the interior of Alaska, resulting in millions of dollars in medical bills and property damage.

While moose are happy to pose for a picture or two it is important to give them lots of room, especially when calves are nearby. But they generally ignore people and human activities. They're more interested in food. Moose don't eat meat, but many Alaskan animals find moose to be tasty; they're a favorite of bears, wolves and humans. Each year, hunters bag 6,000-8,000 Alaskan moose -- that's 3.5 million pounds of lean meat, and a single moose can feed a family of four all winter long.

In winter, finding food is difficult, and moose flood the low areas, often taking refuge in cities-Anchorage's wintertime moose population can triple, to just under 1,000. There, the moose live off the locals' landscaping efforts, eating mountain ash and birch trees. This also means that moose will be more likely to wander into the local roads and highways.

THE ALASKA HIGHWAY SAFETY OFFICE offers the following tips to help avoid a deadly confrontation with moose:

•Never feed a moose
•Give moose at least 50 feet. If it doesn't yield as you approach, give it the trail.
•If a moose lays its ears back or its hackles (the hairs on its hump) rise, it's angry or afraid and may charge.
•Moose kick with their front as well as hind feet so do not confront them directly.
•Don't corner moose into fences or houses.
•If a moose charges, there are few options available to you but it has been suggested by many others to simply get behind a tree. A theory stands that you can run around the trunk faster than the gangly moose.
•Never get between a cow and her calf.

Alaska’s national parks available in virtual reality

Now travelers can visit Alaska’s national parks without leaving home. Thanks to a series of video podcasts available on iTunes and local National Park Service Web sites, viewers can catch a glimpse of what three of Alaska’s most popular national parks have to offer. By searching for the parks in the iTunes podcast store, visitors can learn about dinosaurs and more modern residents of Denali National Park, gain an in-depth look at science and research at Kenai Fjords National Park and watch bears in Katmai National Park.

The video podcasts began airing on iTunes last fall, and the newest videos premiered in October 2008. Both the iTunes and nps.com podcasts are available free of charge. For more information on the National Park Service podcasts or to plan a non-virtual park visit, go to www.nps.gov/state/ak.

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DVD: RVing Alaska
(with Joe and Vicki Kieva)
Learn everything you need to know about traveling by RV to and from Alaska via the Alaska Highway and the Alaska ferry. Essential viewing for Alaska-bound RVers. Learn more or order.

Denali campsite reservations now being taken

December 1, 2008 -- Advance shuttle bus and campground reservations are now being accepted for the 2009 visitor season at Alaska's Denali National Park.

Approximately 65 percent of the shuttle bus seats and 100 percent of the campsites in the Riley Creek, Savage River, Teklanika River and Wonder Lake campgrounds can be reserved in advance. Riley Creek, Savage River and Teklanika River are open to tents and RVs, but there is no RV camping at Wonder Lake. Hookups are not available in any of the park's campgrounds.

Phone reservations can be made nationwide at (800) 622-7275, or at (907) 272-7275 for international callers. Online reservations can be made at www.reservedenali.com.

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