What is this, and What did it?

The load is on the veterinarians here. Too much work too few doctors. I should have taken the day off though. The sun was spectacular today and the mountains beautiful! I am in Alaska 2 to 3 weeks every 2 to 3 weeks. I am a traveling vet and go where ever they need me. I worked up in Fairbanks last May and it was beautiful. I got to go to Denali and the Arctic circle. The people up there are interesting and fun. Lots of sled dogs.

I could injoy that

Very cool, Steve. My girlfriend and her dad raced dogs when I was a kid. I sometimes went out to the races and helped her give rides. And, of course, her (our) chore was feeding them.

I grew up with a Norwegian Elkhound. He was a cool dog and learned very quickly. Wish I'd spent more time with him. His coat was so thick in the wintertime that he couldn't/wouldn't stay inside for more than 10 minutes at a time. When we bathed him, we'd keep him in the house for several days to make sure that his coat was dry before he went outside. Pretty amazing - and beautiful. Wish I had some digital photos of him.

So I was talking to my folks about this all last night. I've always wondered how ravens could survive with their unprotected feet and feathers only in what were regularly 40 degree below days. Any clue on your part?

I am not a bird doctor but I believe that the blood vessels to their extremities does not close down like ours does when its cold. Though I had a 1 legged chicken in Michigan who froze it off at -25F

Really!!! That's a good start. I'm going to have to look into this more, now that there's the Net. It's been a question of mine since childhood. I wish I had a digital photo of the cat "stalking" a raven on a tall lamppost. She was black and tiptoeing down the driveway. Everything was covered in snow and the snow on the edges of the driveway and road was in 4 ft banks. Needless to say, she wasn't very well camouflaged. :-)