Taquka’aq is the Alutiiq word for bear, which was hanging out in the tall beach grass near the parking area when we went to hide this cache!
The brown or grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest terrestrial mammal in North America. The Kodiak Archipelago is home to more than three thousand of these enormous creatures, which have long been a source of food and raw materials for Alutiiq people. Bears once represented the only large land mammal available to Kodiak hunters, because Sitka deer, elk, and reindeer were introduced in the twentieth century. In addition to meat and fat, bears provided gut for waterproof clothing, bone for tools, teeth for jewelry, and hides for bedding. Inside the warmth of sod houses, people sat on bear hides to sew, make tools, and play games, and in the evening, families wrapped themselves in the plush fur for sleeping.
Kodiak sows (female bears) begin reproducing at about age five and continue to have cubs about every four years into their twenties. Cubs are born in mid-winter, typically in litters of two or three. Conservatively, this means that one female bear could produce eight to fifteen additional bears! However, not all of these taquka'angcut, little bears, live to adulthood. Biologists estimate that about a quarter of young bears die in the first three years of life, often in encounters with adult male bears. Others get into trouble when they part from their mothers as adolescents. Young bears are more likely to be killed by humans in self-defense than bears of any other age. Be sure to bring your bear bells or bear spray when you hike the island, or stay loud with a big group.
This cache is at the head of the trail to Kashaveroff Mountain. The parking area is on the ocean side of the road while the trailhead is down the road back towards town a little ways. The trailhead also has wooden signs to mark it. This cache is in a very easy location at this trailhead, but is another tricky cache that might take some sleuthing before you realize it's a geocache. No pen and too small for trade items, just sign your name and have a great hike!