alaska

Oh lawd, they comin'

Katmai National Park's annual competition of voting for your favorite chubby bear is back and voting has already begun! Which chubby cubby will win the title this year? 

Every Fall, the 'Fat Bear Week' competition takes place and it's a celebration in which the online community compares photos of bears in Spring and those same bears all chubbed up and getting ready for hibernation! The difference between the photos is often very obvious. And while it's a fun competition to take part in, it's truly all about these amazing bears, their survival, and how we're learning from them. 

For those who might consider this to be body shaming, it's actually all about body positivity. A bear needs to bulk up before winter, or else it won't survive. As the U.S. Department of the Interior says, "A fat bear is a healthy bear!" Bears can lose up to a third of their entire body fat as they hibernate. 

You can vote for your favorite chubby cubby here! And follow Katmai National Park on Twitter for all the updates! 

Maybe we should move to Alaska if this is the result! 

Roland Rydstrom from Anchorage, Alaska, has some unexpected but completely welcomed guests during his COVID home office. 

A mother moose and her two adorable calves appeared in his backyard just a bit before 9 am and camped out there all day! And the photo series Rydstrom shared on Facebook proves it was a peaceful and enjoyable time for a mom and her babies. 

Some of the quoted comments below are comments from people on the original post. We just felt the need to share them since they were the perfect commentary. 

Enjoy this peaceful moment! And thank you, Roland Rydstrom for sharing this moment with the world. 

Over the past week, the employees of Katmai National Park have been asking people to vote, March Madness-style, on which bear has grown the fattest over the summer. The park has posted picture matchups of bear pairs on its Facebook page, and the public got to choose the fattest with their "likes." This yearly contest began in 2014, and every year it becomes even more of a viral sensation. 

Today, a day the park calls "Fat Bear Tuesday," the contest is over. A most-round bear named 435 Holly took the grand prize.

"She is fat," the park's announcement of the winner reads. "She is fabulous. She is 435 Holly. ... All hail Holly whose healthy heft will help her hibernate until the spring. Long live the Queen of Corpulence!"

After 13 days, 19 hours, 17 Minutes and 2 seconds, The 30-year-old musher, Blair Braverman, completed her first ever Iditarod across Alaska with 14 sled dogs. All doggos were specially trained by her weeks before the race and all did a great job! She finished the race to a wave of support from her enthusiastic fanbase, who call themselves Ugly Dogs. While she was competing, the Ugly Dogs raised more than $70,000 for 9,000 students in schools along the competition trail. Here are some highlights from her journey. 

"Mom, Dad, I have a bear in my room"!

Check out these pictures and profiles of some of the Iditarod's top dogs! This year's Iditarod started March 2nd, and is still going! The race kicks off from Anchorage, Alaska, spans 975 miles of snow-covered wilderness, and ends in the far northern city of Nome. Visit the Anchorage Daily News for more information and real time updates!