The Mating Season

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

Over the next few weeks we were once again tourists enjoying the sights of Yellowstone. Though we’ve visited many of the same areas in previous trips, we never tire of experiencing the many wonders of this incredible national park. We took a couple more trips out to Lamar Valley and were lucky enough on one of those trips to spot 7 wolves and pups! We also toured the Mammoth Terraces, Norris Geyser Basin, Calcite Springs, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and Tower Falls just to name a few. And as we walked to the Tower Falls overlook, we passed this jaw bone right next to the walkway!

























One thing we’ve learned on our travels is that glaciers can move boulders great distances, and about 20,000 years ago this huge boulder was moved more than 15 miles from the Beartooth Mountains to its current location near Inspiration Point in the Canyon area! And on our way back we noticed several people pulled off to the side of the road with cameras pointed up the hill, and there was this darling coyote hunting for some small varmint hiding in the brush.

As you know, our main reason for hanging out longer in the Mammoth area was to experience the elk rut (mating season) since they breed in the fall. Bulls will gather cows (females) and calves into small groups known as harems, and will aggressively protect these harems from other bulls by running them off, thrashing their antlers against the ground and trees in a show of aggression, and if need be, butting heads. The bull’s antlers are at their largest by this time of year, and are a sign to the cows of their quality and virility. They will wallow in mud to not only cool off their over-heated bodies but to make themselves appear more imposing, and will also spray themselves with urine sort of as a “perfume” that is attractive to the cows. When the rut begins, the bulls begin to bugle. This not only announces their presence to other males but also gives a cow clues to his size and strength, important factors in determining who will produce the best offspring. The vocal range of their bugle varies with the individual and their maturity level, and is one of the most amazing sounds. When the cows come into heat, the mating begins (not that the bulls won’t try sooner!) A bull has to be ready because the cow is receptive for mating less than 24 hours and won’t be willing to mate again until her next cycle in about 20 days. They can have up to 4 of these cycles in a season but usually become pregnant fairly quickly.

Several groups came through the campground on a daily basis, generally a couple times a day, sometimes even bedding down in the meadow area for several hours or simply grazing as they passed the many campers trying to get the perfect photo. As a matter of fact, we’ve had 3 bulls of varying sizes with their harems in the campground all at the same time. And like the bison, it is their park and they move where they want when they want. In fact we came home one day from watching the elk up the hill in town and were unable to get to our RV because it was surrounded by cows and calves! So we just hung out in the car in the middle of the road until the bull decided to herd them along.

We saw lots of posturing by the bulls, some chasing of one another, and lots of bugling but never saw any of the head-to-head battles. However we did get to see some actual mating a couple of times (or at least attempts). As we were driving through the campground one day, we came upon a group hanging out partly in the road, partly in the meadow, and stopped to take some photos. Well, lo and behold, one of the cows must have let this bull know she was in a receptive mood, and I got quite the shot! (Hope no one is offended by this act of nature I captured!) What I didn’t realize until after I took the picture was the sign in the background…obviously he hadn’t read it!! LOL

If you’d like to learn more about the elk and their habits, the website for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (http://www.rmef.org/AllAboutElk) is a great source of information.

Our original plan had been to stay in the Mammoth area until the snow forced us to leave, but with the repair work needed on the RV, it was time to move south to Salt Lake City once the parts had arrived.

Surrounded!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

Wolves are primarily nocturnal animals, sleeping during the heat of the day, and rousing around dusk to begin their day. We had been traveling to Lamar Valley shortly before dusk and thought perhaps that was why we weren’t having much luck seeing the wolves. As Stacey pointed out, think about when you first get up in the morning, are you very active, or are you stretching, moving slowly, not wanting to get up? So we decided to get up super early one morning and get out to Lamar when they were active and just thinking about going to bed.

When we arrived at the hillside spot, Rick was giving some final instructions to Stacey before heading out to another area of the park. There was another couple there from France, and Stacey was to be their guide helping to point their scope in the right direction, and answering any questions on the wolves’ habitat, lineage, and lifestyle. We set our scope up right alongside and waited. (That’s Stacey in the big hat and mustache...kind of reminds you of Teddy Roosevelt!)

As the five of us stood on the hill waiting and looking out across the valley, the bison were beginning their morning trek causing a slight traffic jam as usual. As we watched, we noticed that this group was headed up the hillside directly towards us so Stacey very quietly suggested that we pick up our scopes and move to higher ground till they passed. It was incredible to watch (and hear) these massive animals pass at such a close distance without the protection of our car, but we were safe.

As we stood there watching, Stacey noticed that there was another group coming just above where we were now standing! Who knew bison traveled that high on the hillside?? He would occasionally very calmly say ‘hey, bison, we’re here bison’ just to let them know we weren’t a threat. Once again he very quietly and calmly suggested that as soon as the lower group passed, we move back down to that trail where we had been originally standing. And not long after we did, the upper group passed along right where we had been standing! The other couple lagged a little behind us to get a couple photos, but I was fine getting mine from a little further down below. Though we didn’t see any wolves on this bright and early morning, we had another incredible experience being surrounded by herds of bison. As Stacey said, “This was better than an E-ride at Disney!”

On our way to the hillside this morning, we had passed what appeared to be a dead bison not more than 30 feet from the road, and as we returned home, park rangers were there to monitor the crowd that had gathered to take pictures. However this time as we passed, two other bison were alongside their fallen friend nudging at him as though trying to wake him from a deep sleep. A sad sight indeed but that’s part of nature and the circle of life.

Let There Be Wolves!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison, moose, pronghorn antelope, elk, coyote, beaver, black bear, grizzly, bighorn sheep
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager, bald eagle, blue heron, American white pelican, trumpeter swan, osprey, magpie, mountain bluebird, Clark’s Nutcracker

Not only were the elk beginning to come through the campground, but early one morning as I walked the dogs, a black bear crossed the road a few hundred feet in front of me and then slowly began making its way up the hill. Since I was close to the RV, I put the dogs inside, grabbed the radio, and went back out to call in a report to the Comm Center so the rangers would be aware that a black bear was heading up into town. Guess I should have grabbed the camera, too.

We made another trip out to Lamar Valley early one evening hoping that the third time would be a charm in finally seeing some wolves, and though the conditions were perfect, none appeared, only bison. So a few days later we decided to try a different tactic and head out to Hayden Valley (about 37 miles one way in the other direction) where wolves had also been reported. The parking lot was packed when we arrived, and several people had their spotting scopes set up...always a good sign. We parked, unpacked our scope, and joined the others along the fence line. Everyone is always so willing to help and soon we learned the approximate location of a couple of gray wolves, and there they were standing right next to a bison! Wolves generally prey on weak, old, and very young animals so by the bison basically standing its ground, the wolves respected its strength and knew not to mess with it. We could see them with the binoculars but had an even greater view through our scope. The black alpha male was also in the vicinity but spent much of his time lying in the grass so occasionally we'd see his head move. Awhile later another guy let us look through his scope at 3 black wolf pups frolicking in the sage about another half mile further away. Unfortunately we don’t have a telephoto lens for our camera so I can never get any pictures of the wolves, but they are truly magnificent to see.

A flyer had been delivered to the campground office inviting all of us to an “Indian Creek Christmas” potluck on August 25. Indian Creek Campground is about 7 miles from Mammoth and is also under the jurisdiction of Ranger Allan. Since we weren’t working, we were happy to represent the Mammoth group as Jim and Kay were working, and Elaine and Bill weren’t able to make it. Unlike Mammoth, Indian Creek has lots of trees, no cell or internet access, and a darling log cabin as their office which was decorated for Christmas. We were the first to arrive and met Pat and Jack who were on duty but hosting the potluck at their site near the office, and soon the other hosts arrived along with Ranger Russ and a couple other park employees. We learned that the reason for the Christmas decorations was that “Christmas in August” is a very special Yellowstone National Park tradition. Legend is that in the early 1900s visitors traveling Yellowstone’s roads via stagecoach were stranded at the Old Faithful Inn by a snowstorm on Aug. 25. They decided to turn their misfortune into fun by decorating a tree and singing Christmas carols, and since then Yellowstone’s seasonal employees have continued the celebration before returning home in the fall. At our celebration there was no singing, but there was enough food to feed an army! We had a great time getting acquainted with everyone, and when a storm rolled in, we got even cozier inside the cabin and on the porch. Thanks to the Indian Creek hosts for such a fun evening!

There’s a back road into the town of Gardiner, and a few days later we decided to take it on our way to the grocery store. This one way road was actually a stagecoach route back in the 1880s and is a lovely little side trip. It starts in the town of Mammoth (formerly known as Fort Yellowstone), quickly climbs the hill behind offering a spectacular overview of the town and the terraces, crosses over open grasslands with more incredible views, and passes Hidden Lake nestled below. Wildlife is supposed to be abundant in this area, but we didn’t see a single animal till we got to the end of the road. No biggie, there’s always plenty of wildlife elsewhere in the park.







Lamar Valley was our destination once again one evening, but when we arrived at the Hitching Post parking lot, no one was there except a couple of empty horse trailers. We thought it odd but set up our scope on one of the knolls anyway. Usually there’d be at least a couple of people there by this time…unless the wolves had moved. As we scoped out the area, we spotted a number of cars a couple miles down the road where we had just passed, and then Russ spotted some people up on the hill just above. So we packed up our gear, got in the car, and drove down to join them. Supplied with only our binoculars, we climbed up the hill and on the way passed a guy coming down who informed us we had just missed a grizzly that had surprised some napping wolves and 6 of those wolves had been circling the grizzly! There had been no more excitement from this encounter, but the wolves were evidently still out there. Rick was up there, too, (that's him facing the camera) sharing info with the gathered crowd on the lineage of the wolves and occasionally checking for their signals. One of the guys we met, Stacy, lives in TN but comes to Yellowstone regularly to assist with the spotting and tracking of the wolves. We began chatting with him, and he was kind of enough to let us view the wolves through his scope. Finally…we saw wolves in Lamar Valley!

Elaine and Bill (pictured on our right…Jim and Kay to our left) hosted a potluck on Labor Day at their site which was right near the office. It was our last day of work but we had been told that over the last couple of years the campground did not fill so the 4ish start time would probably be a perfectly good time for us to join in, and if anyone arrived, we were close enough that one of us could go over and assist the camper. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans! About 3:30 we got slammed with a nearly non-stop, steady flow of arriving guests. I attempted to re-heat the baked beans in the microwave in between registering people, and Russ had already dropped off the potato salad I had made. Unfortunately, the beans arrived about in time for dessert! From the office we could see that several rangers had stopped by, and most had left by the time we were able to break away. In fact twice we had closed the window and locked the door behind us when another couple cars would arrive and back inside the office we’d go. Around 5pm Kay walked over and insisted on filling in so we could get a bite to eat. About 15 min. later the campground was full, and we could officially lock the office and try to relax for a bit. Elaine and Bill had grilled burgers with all the fixin’s, and once again there was enough food to feed an army! Good thing all those rangers had stopped by, but there were still plenty of leftovers. Just about the time I was ready to enjoy some pleasant conversation, nearly 30 elk had arrived in the campground so Jim and I walked down to keep the throngs of people back. They don’t understand that these are wild animals who can charge at any moment if they are feeling threatened.

Since we were no longer working, it was time to move to a different campsite…goodbye full hookups! We had decided to stick around Yellowstone for awhile longer in anticipation of experiencing some of the elk rut that would probably be in full swing during the month of September. The parts for the RV repair were in, and our appointment to begin the work was scheduled for the 26th so this gave us nearly 3 weeks to continue enjoying our time at one of our favorite places.