YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

It’s all about bears!  Well, today was anyway, with a few birds thrown in.  Oh, and one wolf.

First thing this morning Doug found a white wolf on the Blacktail so I raced out that way to have a look.  He didn’t say it was white, but it was.  Haven’t talked to anyone else about it but I believe this was an 8 Mile.  (Actually reported as the Prospect pup – wonder if it was a disperser from the 8 Miles, as there was a white female with them last year.)  It might surprise folks to know that there are a few very white wolves in the park these days – or light colored greys that look white.

After looking at the wolf and watching for awhile, I headed south.  No bears or anything along the way and so I ended up over at Canyon, hoping to see something in that small corner we are allowed to drive in.  But, nothing so I decided on a hike.

Well, about the time I decided on a hike and the trail, two grizzly bears came walking down the trail.  Hmm.  So, I watched them for awhile, thinking they might get closer but they turned and disappeared the way they had come.  So, I ate breakfast, took a little nap and then prepared for my hike.  Which was about the time a friend from Jackson showed up. I immediately asked if she would like to take a hike and she was game so off we went.

I had already planned my route to minimize potential of running into the bears unexpectedly, if they hadn’t gone far or were hidden.  And, to stay out of the water too.  Did not take us long to find the two adult bears but they were still a ways off so we mostly watched.  And then the wind shifted and one caught our scent.  I saw instantly when it began sniffing the air, looking for us.  We were probably about 400 yards away so a good distance.  And then the bear stood up to look around and eventually found us standing on a hill.  Off they went, running.  Which, really, was good – they were going away from us.  They didn’t go a long ways before stopping to continue grazing so we just watched.

And, then I picked up the binoculars to scan the landscape and found two more grizzlies, not far from the other two!  We were standing out there in the wild with 4 grizzlies!  Now that was surreal.  By now they were 600 to 700 yards off so we just kind of watch and enjoyed the beauty of being out there.  Can’t help but think it is pretty cool to stand safely in the midst of 4 bears like that and be able to watch them go about their lives.  They were all adults and we didn’t see any mating behavior whatsoever.

Well, we left and I went looking for Beryl but no luck.  And, so I began heading north.  The construction zone is terrible.  Just awful – dusty, long waits.  It is a shame they don’t open Dunraven to relieve some of the traffic – seeing as how there is no snow and all.

It wasn’t long after getting through the construction that we came upon Mini Mom and Mini Cub!  A long ways out and bad light.  Earlier they had been very close.  Good to see my luck is holding true.

I spent the rest of the day with the Minis and just had so much fun watching them.  The cub screamed at mom when it wanted to nurse.  Mom just dotes on that little one.  Then they napped.  And, then they played in the snow and mom was playing just as hard as the cub.  This cub is two and subject to be kicked out any day, which is a sad thought because they are such a team.  Maybe, since the cub is so small she will keep it another year.

After play time they came down to eat again.  We had quite the crowd and it was amazing how several photographers just happened to come along at the right time.  They must be luckier than I am because I have to be there the whole time or something cool will happen. Anyway, it was fun.  I get the feeling this is going to be a good year.

Well, in addition to the two bears we had the killer blue grouse that was injured and attacking everyone.  I tried to save it from the road and it bit me.  And, so I took a picture of the darned thing because everyone should have a photo of the grouse that bit them in Yellowstone.  And, then I got in trouble for being less than 25 yards from the grouse, as if we could escape it!  Maybe that was because my darned mouth said something to the ranger about being parked in the road. I can’t control that thing – the words just come out. Some folks got a chuckle and I was just kind of oh, oh, that was dumb and wondering why my mouth, which really doesn’t like talking, has to say words at the worst times.

Anyway, this grouse was so bad – in the road and attacking people, I doubt it will be alive tomorrow.  Seems like they would have to do something – relocate or something…I really felt bad for the darned bird.

The other thing I found and there are plenty of them around, is the Sandhills.  I am having a blast trying to capture them in nice light and will continue with my attempts.

Well, that is about it.  I did hear that Beryl and Chubs are near the Gibbon River but way up high.  I have seen a photo of the two of them and they look fabulous.  The Canyons alphas have been in the area of Mammoth, Swan Flat on down to Firehole – doing their usual traveling thing.  Other than seeing the one wolf, I stayed out of Wolf World for the day and had fun with the bears.

Until tomorrow.

Deby