Surprisingly cranky?: A male musk ox at the Alaska Zoo on October 22, 2009. (BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily News)
For an animal that looks like a hairy couch, it turns out that musk oxen can be bad news for mushers.
Bethel radio station KYUK reports on a Russian Mission man who encountered a musk ox that killed his main swing dog and leader. Ryan Housler climbed a nearby spruce tree and waited for three hours until a snowmachiner came along, he told the station.
"I had to move around just to stay warm. Every time I moved around, he would get all riled up and stomp his hooves and hit his horn on a little willow," Housler said.
The ox was shot and killed, with the meat donated to the Russian Mission tribal council and the Bethel senior center, according to this trooper report:
On 12/20/10 Russian Mission resident and dog musher Ryan Housler, 32, was mushing his team on the portage trail between Russian Mission and Kalskag when he encountered a musk ox. Two of Housler's dogs were killed and Housler had to climb a tree until another Russian Mission resident, Peter Minock 38, shot and killed the ox. The hide, head and meat of the ox were salvaged and the meat donated to the Russian Mission tribal council for distribution. Alaska Wildlife Troopers further donated some meat to the Bethel senior center. The head and hide will
be turned over to ADF&G.
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