YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Because humans have effected so many parts of this earth it is becoming increasingly difficult to find areas with no or minimum human impact. Even our beloved Yellowstone is affected because there are so many people there most of the year. But after the wolves were reintroduced in 1995 it, and the surrounding National Forests and Grand Teton National Park make up the largest, most intact, ecosystem in the lower 48 states. Yellowstone plants and animals function pretty much as they did before humans ever came to the area. I don’t know about you but I find that very comforting to find a place that looks pretty much like it did 500 or even 1000 years ago.

One of the finest examples of nature working the way it is supposed to is when a predator takes down a prey animal. Most of the time predators are attracted to the weaker animals, not because they are doing a service by removing that animal from the gene pool, but because that animal is easier to kill. They are doing a service however. If that animal is sick they are removing it so it can’t infect other members of its species. If it is genetically flawed it won’t be able to pass those flawed genes on to the next generation. Just think about a peregrine falcon born with poor eyesight. Assuming it does survive to maturity, it is flying along one day and spots a green-wing teal. Dinner!! It dives down to knock the duck out of the sky but because of its poor eyesight it misjudges where the duck is and rams into the ground. No more peregrine falcon so those poor eyesight genes aren’t passed on to the next generation.

Now think about humans for a minute. What do we do when we find we have poor eyesight? We get glasses. So what are we likely to do with those poor eyesight genes? Pass them on to the next generation. Now expand that idea to heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. You might get the idea that “survival of the fittest’ isn’t working so well in humans, and you would be right.

But it still works pretty well in nonhumans, especially predators. Being a predator is hard, physically demanding work that can result in serious injuries to the predator or even death. So there is a strong selection process for predators to be smart. How long will a wolf last if it walks up to the biggest, strongest make bison in a hard and attempts to kill it?

Which finally brings me to the purpose of all of this. Earlier this fall we were in the Lamar Valley one evening and heard there was a female bison that was not acting healthy. We descended on her like a heard of vultures hoping to see a grizzly or some wolves. When I saw the bison she looked like she was really struggling. She was all by herself, was obviously thin and spent a lot of time resting on the ground.

Three wolves appeared. One of the wolves, a collared gray came up to the bison and began nipping cautiously at her hind end. The bison stood up but seemed unable to walk away. The wolf then got in front of the bison moving in a way that made me think it wanted to play. It was then that I realized the wolf was testing the bison to see how she would react.

This scenario repeated itself many times throughout the day. We returned in the late evening to see what was happening. The bison was still alive and the wolves were sitting and waiting. I felt bad because I wanted to see the wolves get a meal. But I didn’t feel quite so bad when I found a young woman who was timing how long the bison remained standing every time the wolf harassed it. The times were getting shorter and shorter.

We finally left as it got too dark to see. When we returned the next day the bison was dead and it was obvious the carcass was partially eaten. I was sorry she was dead, but glad she wasn’t suffering anymore and that the wolves had a good meal.

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