Alaska Man Monday: An Unfortunate Fox; Also, It's Cold in Fairbanks

When it’s this cold, every little critter out there needs every calorie it can get. But how it gets them, that’s another story, and it doesn’t always end well. So here’s a sad lesson: Don’t feed wildlife. Oh, birds are all right; we feed birds here at our homestead, and don’t begrudge the squirrels a few sunflower seeds. But predators, even small ones, can grow aggressive and dangerous if they get too familiar with humans, and that rarely ends well for the predators. Case in point:

On 12/16/2025 at approximately 0815 hours, Troopers received a report of a injured fox in the area of Glennallen School. Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers responded. It was readily apparent that based on its behavior, the fox had been fed by humans. The fox was ultimately dispatched. The Troopers would like to remind the public that it is a criminal violation and prohibited to intentionally or negligently feed wild animals.

Don’t feed predators. Don’t feed moose – moose will be dining on your property in any case, including that jerk of a young bull that likes to snack on my favorite black ash trees behind our office building, and occasionally shakes the whole building by scratching a pesky itch on the outside corner of the structure.

This incident should serve as a sad reminder.

Alaska Man score: Nil. There’s nothing award-worthy about this.

Now, here’s a rather Alaskan thing: Up in Fairbanks, they can’t remove snow – because it’s too cold. Yes, really.

Officials suspended snow removal efforts in the City of Fairbanks Monday as extremely cold temperatures threatened to damage equipment.
According to Robert Carlson, Fairbanks Public Works Department streets foreman, when temperatures at Fairbanks International Airport measure 30 degrees below zero an hour before a shift is scheduled to begin, operations are automatically suspended.
“Once you hit the negative 30 range, you run into a few problems,” said Fairbanks Shop Foreman Jeremiah Record, explaining at these temperatures, hoses get stiff and have a high breakage rate, while other parts have higher failure rates in that range, even if they’re only outside for a couple of hours.

Boy, and just the other day I was complaining about -13 here in the valley. On the day of the winter solstice, when I walked over to the office, it was -18, and that's cold no matter where you are. There's a ritual involved with temperatures like that, and they involve insulated underwear, heavy Duluth Trading overalls, heavy fleece shirts, Sorel arctic boots, a heavy insulated Carhartt jacket, a fur hat, and a scarf - and that's just to walk the 20 yards from back door to office. And if you're dealing with temps like this, dress for the weather, not for the trip; tempting as it may be to dress light because your car is already warmed up, that will be the time when you'll have a flat tire.

I see too many people in the post office, local folks who should know better, wearing only a jacket in this weather. Not prudent.

Public Works Director Jeremiah Cotter said occasionally, these temperature boundaries are pushed when bad weather is ongoing.
However, he added equipment failure at that temperature is universal.
“Even working on the North Slope, when it gets below 30 and you’re up there, more things break, so here in town, it’s the same thing,” Cotter explained. “The more things break, the colder it is, and to try to keep us going forward and not have a bunch of broken equipment to where we can’t get on it when the temperatures do rise, it’s better for us just to take the day or so and not do anything.”
We have had temperatures that low here in the Susitna Valley; the coldest I’ve seen on our indoor-outdoor thermometer was 31 below, at which point it can be physically dangerous to go outdoors, and even with our oil-burner and the wood stove running full bore, the house still gets notably chilly. But it’s unusual here; in Fairbanks and the rest of the interior, not so much. This was the right move on the part of the city of Fairbanks.

Alaska Man score: 5 moose nuggets, for knowing when it’s best to just stay indoors and throw another chunk in the wood stove.

Now, some thoughts on the recently passed winter solstice, and some Christmas wishes.

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