YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

 

Yesterday, in Lamar Valley and spilling over into Little America, we had the Mollie pack, the Junction Butte pack, 4 black males from the Prospect Peak pack, along with 911’s group of three and we could not believe our eyes or ears.  Wolves everywhere and I am sure that howling could be heard for miles.  We were all smiles, getting to see so many wolves, particularly the Mollie pack, which not many had seen for awhile.  And, as far as we could tell, no wolves got hurt.

The whole time we watched all of those wolves, we kept saying and thinking – sure glad the Lamar Canyons are not around.

Well, today the Lamar Canyons were fairly far west in Lamar Valley and not far from them, on Ranger Hill, were the Mollies.  Down the road from the Mollies was 911’s groups of three.  Way up on the ridge, seen from Lamar, were the 4 Prospect Peak boys and I missed it but they did come all of the way into the valley and crossed the road to the north.  There was speculation that they chased 911’s group.  And, this is like a partridge in a pear tree story because in the middle of all of this, out in the valley, was one lone black pup that was determined to attach itself to the Lamar Canyons.

We watched as the pup made its way towards the Lamars while they looked on.  Of course, us observers knew nothing about what was going on or who the pup was.  There is some speculation that the pup is a JB and is male.  There was a lot of howling from the pup, the Lamars, the Mollies and 911’s group.

Eventually, the Lamars began to retreat some, heading to the east and it looked like they were well on their way until the black pup decided to make a bold move and run after them.  No aggression, he just didn’t want to be left behind.  Well, Spitfire took off like a shot, with her pack running behind her, and chased the pup forever.  She just kept chasing him and when she wouldn’t let up I feared she would kill him.  Rick says that Spitfire grabbed him twice and he feels like she let him go.  But, she left her pack far behind in her pursuit and they called and called for her before deciding to head east.  They were way too close to the Mollies by this time.

 

The pup wandered in the valley and it looked like it might cross the road towards the Mollies, making me believe it might be a Mollie.

The Mollies came to the front of the hill to see what was going on, then they disappeared and I figured that they were heading west where I might be able to see the closer.  And so I headed that way.  But, then there was the pup, looking like it would cross and I did not want to disrupt its progress and so I waited.  I might drive a little closer to get a shot of a wolf but I will always do my best to not get so close that it would disturb the wolf from getting to where it needs to be.  But, then another vehicle went by and the pup spooked back and so I went ahead.  As it turns out, if he was not a Mollie, it might have been good that he did not cross.

That was when I saw 911’s Group howling on the hill.  At which time I became conflicted – did I wait to see if the Mollies came around, should I watch the pup, should I go down and get some close shots of 911’s group or go watch the Lamars.  The Lamars always win out.

Turns out that Spitfire had crossed the road after leaving her chase and was sitting up there waiting for the family to join.  But, no way was that family going to go near the road and people.  And so they howled and mom went to them.

They all ran to greet mom as if she had been gone a long time.  But, she did not have much to say to them and immediately led the way to two pups that had been left behind, one of which was being quite submissive.

They did not linger long as a group before they began heading east.  After awhile I headed east also, thinking of going to Foot Bridge or something but when I rounded the curve there were several photographers getting the wolves not all that far away.  I had not even considered shooting the scene but am so glad that I did.

As most photo ops with the pack, they soon went behind a tree and it was over.

I had a secret that no one knew about and so knew where the pack would eventually end up and they did.

The day before I had found a bison carcass and so while everyone stayed back to follow the pack, I went on ahead to get ready.  As it turned out, I had plenty of time but the alphas did eventually arrive.

The alphas were being very cautious about the carcass because they did not know if it belonged to another pack and so they needed to make sure all was safe.  This was a healthy bull that died for some odd reason and so I was very excited that this would be their meal.

The two split up so that they could check the area thoroughly.

Big Gray spotted the coyote on what was soon to be his carcass and sprinted after him.

Please forgive all of the photos of Big Gray from today but this was the most that I have been able to photograph the boy and he was kind of fun.

The coyote got away.  Big Gray turned back towards the carcass and Spitfire came trotting up out of the creek bed, after obviously having chased the coyote as well.

Big Gray was admiring his next meal while Spitfire kept a lookout.

But, spitfire had to keep the birds away.

The alphas did not stay long at the carcass and I was told that they had probably just finished a meal before coming back to the west, so maybe not terribly hungry.  Though, it was obvious they would be back.  They laid down for a little while and howled to the pups but I think that the pups were too tired and so the parents, tired also, slowly made their way back to the family for an afternoon nap.

An afternoon nap that was interrupted when that black pup tried to join them again, very far from where they first met.  Spitfire gave chase and that poor pup ran its heart out across Soda Butte Valley this time.  I did not get to see the chase but he did end up coming near the carcass.

When I finally left, the carcass was just waiting, the Lamars were still sleeping, the Mollies had moved north, the Junctions seemed to be coming closer but still not seen, the Prospect boys had gone out of sight, 911’s group was bedded in Little America, and that black pup was probably bedded close to the carcass.  Oh, and I heard that 9 of the Prospects were being seen on the Blacktail.

What a day!

 

 

• 
• 
• 
• 
•