There Be Wolf!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2012 trip so far: prairie dog, bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, llama, white tail deer, elk, grizzly, coyote, badger, Uinta ground squirrel, black bear, yellow-bellied marmot, wolf
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2012 trip so far: Western meadowlark, magpie, wild turkey, killdeer, osprey, red-naped sapsucker, sandhill crane, bald eagle
*National Parks/Monuments visited on 2012 trip so far: 2

Most evenings when we venture out into the park we see critters of some sort and sometimes we get extra lucky. Last week was one of those nights. We headed towards Lamar Valley mainly in search of folks with scopes spotting wolves. The bison herds were in abundance as usual with some blocking the road (also as usual). A cow and her calf were directly in front of us, and baby decided it was hungry so began nursing right there in the middle of the road. We waited about 10 minutes, and since they were close to the edge of the road, there was plenty of room to get around them very slowly.


Though the bison rut doesn’t usually begin until August, it seemed to us that some of the bulls were already starting to feel frisky. We could hear the constant low bellow from one of them who also decided to wallow in the dust before beginning his vocalizations again. All part of the mating ritual.

We continued further down the road through the valley but weren’t spotting any scopes. Eventually we made a U-turn going back to the beginning of the valley, and right after we turned around again, there running alongside the road was a collared coyote looking a little scraggly and hungry. In case you’re wondering, the collars on coyotes, wolves, and other wildlife are used to study and monitor their movements and behavior.

We kept going back and forth on the road and finally spotted a large grouping of folks with scopes up on a hill just off the road so we decided to turn around in one of the pullouts a little further down. As we sat there waiting for traffic to pass, another car pulled up next to us and said there was a wolf running through the sage back in the direction where we had initially been headed. As soon as we could we headed that way and spotted a large grey wolf running full speed through the sage not that far off the road! We could tell by the trajectory of its run that it would soon be crossing the road, and though we were in a no stopping zone, we had to stop to allow him to cross. Once on the other side he seemed to slow down as he made his way up the hill, and Russ detected a limp. He was also collared, and as we later learned is number 754M, “uncle” to his pack’s pups and indeed had a leg injury which was causing the limp. What a thrill to have him cross not more than 40 yards in front of us!

After turning around to make our way home, we noticed that the spotters were dismantling their scopes and making their way back down the hill. Evidently they had been watching the same wolf and now the excitement was over. About half a mile further we spotted another coyote frolicking and hunting in the sage not far off the road. This one appeared not as scrawny and was uncollared. Though we may not have seen a large variety of animals, what we saw close-up that night more than made up for it.

Many evenings we’ll decide to take a drive “up the hill” as Russ puts it, and sometimes that’s literally just up the hill to the town of Mammoth where we might find elk hanging out, which is what we found one particular evening. We spotted Ranger John on elk patrol and got out to chat. Occasionally an elk would think the grass looked greener where we were standing and decide to cross over, but John only had to walk in its direction patting the squeaky toy in his side pocket and the elk would turn around. Evidently they don’t like that sound.

As we were talking, a radio call came through and John needed to head towards a bear jam a couple miles away so we followed behind always ready for a bear sighting. We spent the next hour hanging with him and dozens of other folks trying to get a picture of the cinnamon colored black bear foraging through the trees and brush. We helped John keep track of him so he could focus on keeping the people from getting too close, walking and following the bear’s movements. It started to sprinkle, and we discovered we were about ¼ - ½ mile from our cars. We got ours and asked John if he wanted a ride back to his truck, but he needed to stay where he was since the bear was still in sight and asked Russ if he would get the truck for him. With Russ following not far behind me, I pulled into the Upper Terraces parking lot and Russ parked in a pullout not far behind. Evidently the bear was heading in the direction of the lot, and it was believed he wanted to cross the road. I ran back to the car to get my bear spray and just as I turned back around, the bear ran full speed across the road not more than 30 yards in front of where Russ and several others were standing…what an amazing sight! It happened so fast that I had no time to get a picture before he disappeared into the trees.

On another evening we went a little further up the hill, about 10 miles this time, and near Willow Lake several people were parked in a pullout including a ranger car which could only mean one thing…bear sighting. Sure enough one had been spotted but had now moved back into the trees moving southward. Russ being the big wildlife tracker decided we should hop back in the car and head to the next pullout because he was sure the bear was headed in that direction. Soon many of the other folks had joined us and then the bear appeared. It was one of the most unusually colored black bears we’d ever seen…brown on most of the body with a blonde stripe running from its head down its back. In fact one person said it looked like a huge badger!

Animals aren’t the only beauty to be experienced in the park, and though we haven’t visited many of the thermal features yet this year, we are expecting company later in the summer and will plan those trips then. However, on occasion a rain storm will come through and we get the most beautiful rainbows. This time it was a full double rainbow whose colorful end actually crossed in front of the hills across from us. What a gorgeous sight!

Yellowstone Tidbits:
*Unlike most birds, the Black-billed Magpie can use scent to locate food and spends up to 40 hours building nests with domes on top.
*Wolves were re-introduced into YNP in 1995
*Bison are the largest land mammal in North America with bulls weighing up to 2,000 lbs. and cows up to 1,000 lbs., and they can run up to 30 mph.
*Coyotes are about 1/3 the size of a wolf.