Alaska howler: There are no snaes on Alaska!

This is from the English Der Spiegel news list:

"Visitors to the backwoods of Alaska are more apt to die from bee stings and snake bites than they are to be mauls (sic)by a bear, yet we fear bears more than bees and snakes. "

Actually, pilgrims, there ae no snakes in Alaska. Even though almost half of the state is wetland, beaver ponds and marsh, there are also no crocodiles or alligators and for same climate reason. There is only a tree frog which can survive being frozen and emerge in the spring to eat insects.

The only way you’ll die from a snake in Alaska is if one escapes from the plane. True story my friend was an airline employee and a girl smuggled 4-5 snakes on a plane and it ended with an emergency landing and all the snakes killed.

ice worms ?

Actually, there is the common garter snake which is nonpoisonous. Grizzlies and polar bears are what you have to worry about.

pivobar- sounds like an element in a film. perhaps a heroic husky could kill the snake, and then die.

iceworm- do they make it into the reptile class

QuiviraTrail- awright, extreme sutheren Alaska. New subject: Did you know that the Knights of Aksarben have a Court of Quivera?

pivobar- sounds like an element in a film. perhaps a heroic husky could kill the snake, and then die.

iceworm- do they make it into the reptile class

QuiviraTrail- awright, extreme sutheren Alaska. New subject: Did you know that the Knights of Aksarben have a Court of Quivera?

No, I didn't. It is spelled differently. This is what Wikipedia says about the word "Quivira":

"Quivira is a place named by explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541, for the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold" that he never found. The location of Quivira is believed by most authorities to be in central Kansas near present-day Lyons extending northeast to Salina. The Quivirans were the forebears of the modern day Wichita Indians and Caddoan tribes, such as the Pawnee or Arikara."

It seems to be spelled both ways. I gothis version:

"The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben. King and Queen of Ak-Sar-Ben. The mythical kingdom of Quivera. These may be familiar names to most Omaha residents, but the origin and history of The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation, Omaha's premier philanthropic organization, remains elusive for many."

Phonetic renderings of native Amwerican words seem to come in many versions. William Least Heat Moon listed about 20 or so for Kansas, and I know that Ogalla is rendered and pronponcded in various ways, as in Kearney.

Good grief. I see that Der Speigel is the home of a lot of nonsense besides this. Buried in that is an indefensible statistical assertion of which the author is obviously ignorant, but that is another discussion for another time and place.

For those planning to do anything during their Alaska visit other than the tourbus-train-hotel-bar thing, use the following expressions as internet search terms for information on how to be "bear aware" and other information on how to interact with wildlife safely.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Living with bears

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Tips and safety wildlife viewing

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