YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

 

It was one of those days that, as a photographer and wildlife watcher, one always dreams about but never believes will happen.

Closing day of the park and the last chance to see the animals in Hayden Valley and so I took off early, somewhat afraid that they would close the roads due to snow.

Everything was quiet all through Hayden and on out towards the east entrance.  I kept telling myself that the previous days was wonderful enough to last a long time and so was able to keep expectations low.  Hopes high, expectations low.

On a whim I decided to drive down to Grant where I found myself down at the marina that I never knew existed.  It was quiet and beautiful down there.  Not a person in site, clean outhouse and fresh coyote prints in the snow.  I followed the prints but they continued on with out me.

I pulled over next to the lake and boy was it cold!  Freezing and I am not looking forward to Winter.  Got my breakfast of hot oatmeal with blueberries, milk and honey and sat there looking out at the lake and listening to a short story on New Yorker podcast.  Had actually planned to take a nap but forgot, thankfully.  Because this day was all about timing and the right place.

I left Grant and just as I pulled out onto the main road there was the coyote, looking down the hill on the other side.  I pulled opposite the coyote but it spooked down the hill and I heard a familiar warning sound.  Or so I thought but was not sure.

Being cautious I pulled my car over to the other side, facing the wrong direction in a very narrow roadside, and found the coyote’s prints.  The trees were thick but I found a narrow opening and saw something move.  It was a grizzly in a thick stand of pine trees, digging and digging with birds around.

It was amazing that I found the grizzly and there was no other opening in the trees to view him.  He was digging and I was confused by the bird activity because of not seeing a carcass.  At one point I looked up just as something light dashed into the trees on the other side of the road.  “Damned wolf!”  I thought for no reason.  Went back to watching the bear.

He would come out of the stand of trees and look at me and around him every once in awhile and then go back to digging.  I assumed he had found a nut cache but later discovered that there was a carcass buried there also.  So he was having a feast.

I had been there about an hour and was watching through my lens when suddenly a grey wolf appeared.  Quickly appeared and then went behind the trees so for the longest time I saw just bits and pieces and wasn’t sure which wolf it was.

It was the same grey wolf as the day before, 25 miles from where I had last seen her!  I could not believe my luck, this just doesn’t happen.  First of all I have a grizzly all to myself and then suddenly a grizzly and a beautiful wolf.  Too good to be true and for the next hour I watched and watched.

Mostly she was behind the trees but she came out a couple of times, once to bring a treat to stash away from the bear, at which time she had to look at me and tell me I could not have that hunk of meat.  She decided to trust me and went back to stealing bits and pieces from the bear.

Evidently, the wolf had buried much of the carcass in the stand of trees because I saw her digging some of it up, so the bear had been having a feast of meat and nuts.  There was not much left and I could not tell what had been killed.  The wolf looks like she has lost many a meal to her friend the grizzly as he was quite fat and she is a little lean.  But, the two of them seemed to mostly get along fairly well – tolerant of each other anyway.

Eventually, the bear left.

This grizzly has a collar and ear tags.

After the grizzly left the wolf grabbed the chunk that she had stored near me and went behind a tree to chew for awhile before getting up and disappearing into the woods – lost until spring.

It was sad to see her go but I also felt better that there would be very little traffic on the roads that she likes so much.

I began the drive home and in Hayden was my favorite little sow, the 4 year old Hayden twin.  I have grown quite fond of this bear and so felt privileged to get to see her one last time.

One would think that would be enough for one day, but no, it wasn’t, there was more.

On Swan Lake Flat I found 9 black wolves and watched them for about 90 minutes while they howled and chased some elk.  It was a great way to end the season, watching the 8 Mile pack, or so I thought.

Lucky me!  Very lucky me!  Was watching the Cougar pack, the never seen Cougar Pack of nearly all blacks.  Though I did not find out until the next day.  I was the first of the regulars to lay eyes on that pack.

One thing that I did not know until today is that the alpha female is 11 and the oldest wolf in the park.  Isn’t that amazing?

Well, we found them again tonight but instead of 9 there was 13 or 14 and two of them were 8 Miles, including the alpha female.  What the heck is she doing with another pack and abandoning her children?  Strange happenings in wolf world.

There are black wolves on the hill and two blacks and two grays under the tree down low.

Yes, a longs ways off again!  But, I listened to them howl for more than an hour.  One of them barks quite a lot but I don’t know which one.  And I saw the pups greet the alphas.  It did not matter how far away they were, it was one of the coolest things ever.

And, when you count the 5 Lamar pups that I saw, 6 8 Mile/Prospect Peak, 5 Junction Buttes, that gives me 29 or 30 wolves from five packs in one day.

How can the days get any better.  I am pinching myself.

 

• 
• 
• 
• 
•