Midway Weather

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Scruffy the Shemya mascot


Every place has a mascot of some sort.  Here it is the Blue Arctic Fox, called 'Scruffy'.  The species was introduced to the Bering Islands by the Russians some 200 years ago and left as a fur source.  Since then the population has maintained itself on a harvest of ground nesting birds and mice.  When the island was heavily populated by military folks [some 5,000 people at the height] they took to 'supporting' the fox population.

Rumor has it that there was a heavy extermination effort several years ago that culled the numbers down.  These days there are a few foxes that try to sneak into the buildings, but most mind their distance [unfortunately for me].

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