Written by Nancy Duresky
Wednesday, March 19, 2009 Pt. Two
Did you know that you cannot see reindeers’ breath? When I breathe out in cold weather, like I did all day today, I see my breath. In fact, with my facemask on, my breath escapes between my face and glasses and fogs up my glasses. Seeing my breath on the air, or the fog on my glasses, is actually the condensation of the moisture in my breath, or anyone’s breath. It turns out that reindeer have huge, curling sinus cavities. When they exhale through their nose, their breath travels through all the sinus cavities and the moisture in their breath is condensed in the sinus cavities and drips down their throat. This is really handy since the artic is a desert.
When the mushers and dogs are out on the trail, running like they do, they require a great deal of water. Their food is served in water, actually, in a bowl filled with water. That is one way the mushers make sure their dogs are getting enough water. At every checkpoint, volunteer veterinarians are at hand to check each and every dog. Each dog is given a complete physical before the race, EKG, blood work, etc. And checked at each checkpoint. They are also given a physical and drug test at the end of the race. There are also random drug tests on the dogs during the race. The vets that volunteer for this duty are from all over the world. Most of them come back year after year. They have tough assignments. For the 14+ days of the race, they move from checkpoint to checkpoint. Some times they sleep in tents. They are on duty 24/7 while they are at the checkpoint. And just when they have check all 16 dogs on 60 or so teams (pause while you do the math and discover they have checked 960 dogs), they move on to the next checkpoint and do it all again.
The Veterinarians are not the only volunteers for this race. There are volunteers that help with the dog check, volunteers that answer the phones in Anchorage, all day and night, volunteers that set up the Dog Lot in Nome, volunteers that set up for the banquet, volunteers that fly dropped dogs to Nome to wait for the musher to come in, but wait there is so much more, I can’t list it all. The Iditarod Air Force, the men and women who fly dropped dogs, also deliver the musher’s dog food to each checkpoint before the race. They volunteer their time, plane and fuel so that this race can go on. It is another aspect of teamwork in this race.
Some people have heard that I have volunteered for the Dog Lot. They say it sounds exotic and glamorous. Before anyone gets carried away with the idea that this is glamorous, let me tell you – the first thing they do when I show up at the dog log is hand me a shovel. Fortunately, it is Nome in winter and things freeze quickly.
Stay tuned for more from Nancy!