Trail Log 1995-1997 - Lamar at Colorado State University

it to cut open the instant coffee, which I couldn't tear open, only to find I had flattened the teeth and
couldn't finish peeling the orange--all the while unable to move my elbows.
But the planes had perfect take-offs and landings every time.
Landed in Khabarovsk.
Afternoon boat tour, on the Amur River, from 1.30 to about 6.30. An excellent dancing group, the
Fabulous Fables.
Dinner at 8.00 p.m. Afterward a lovely sunset over the river with barges, watched from an overlook
passageway on the fifth floor of the hotel, at 10.15 at night.
The hotel only has hot water mornings and evenings.
General notes on the mammals of Russia, prompted by a visit to the natural history museum in
Khabarovsk.
There were find mounted specimens of the following:
Sea cow skeleton. Steller's Sea Cow, or Great Northern Sea Cow. Hydrodamlis gigas. Was found
in the Bering Sea area. Steller was a naturalist who accompanied Bering. There were once lots
of them, but they were unfearing of humans and slaughtered relentlessly for food and leather. The
sea cow has been extinct probably since 1768, though there were later reports of it in various
areas. There are only four skeletons in the world, one in this museum. The closest remaining
relative is the dugong in Australia.
sea otters
king crabs
grey wolves, Canis lupus
dhole, Cuon alpinus, a wild dog, resembles Canis, but has shorter skull and is placed in a different
genus. In this museum this animal is labeled as a Manchurian wolf, or red wolf. Found in southern
Siberia and Central Asia to India and Malay peninsula. Walker's Mammals, p. 1080. Endangered
species.
Siberian tiger. Amur tiger. Felis tigris.
As late as 1700's there were tigers in the Lake Baikal vicinity.
Bears
Asiatic black bear, Ursus thibetanus, in this museum called a Himalayan bear, black with white spot
on chest. Walker's Mammals, p. 1086.
brown bear, grizzly bear, Ursus arctos
Caribou (North American term), reindeer (European term), one species, Rangifer tarandus, in this
museum called a Northern deer. This species was all across northern Europe, Asia, and America.
There are even records of it in Idaho in early nineteenth century.