Bearfoot Guides Looks At Alaska's Ice Age: Woolly Mammoths, Sloths, Camels, Giant Bears -- And Humans

Sign at Creamer's Field in Fairbanks shows the variety of wildlife that lived in the Ice Age.

Fairbanks Was The Serengeti Plains Of The Ice Age Northlands

Amazingly, the northern part of Alaska that is now "Fairbanks" wasn't covered with ice during the Ice Age. (Though Canada, and parts of the American Midwest were.) Bones of many animals that do not now live in Alaska -- many are totally extinct -- are found here.

There's an old dairy farm in Fairbanks with the very apt name of "Creamer's." It's now a sort of wildlife sanctuary and has walking trails. This sign at Creamer's Field shows the types of animals that once roamed here, in a sort of Serengeti-Plain type tableau. Hidden in the middle of all the huge sloths, cave bears, woolly mammoths, foxes, extinct horses, ice age bison -- and northern style camels -- are a few tiny humans. Nowadays, the main wildlife you'll see at Creamers (in addition to tourists and locals) are sandhill cranes and geese.