YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Early morning, cold with the sun rising earlier, I was able to see that nothing was bothering the bison carcass on the Blacktail and so on I went, towards the east.

About the time I got to Little America the sunrise had painted the sky many shades of reds, yellows, blue and orange.  I knew that there were wolves ahead but had to stop to capture bits and pieces of the morning.

The Prospect Peaks were pushing the boundary of their new territory, in the Crystal drainage area.  A chorus erupted over and over again with one loan wolf howling from the north.  Too many cars pulling into Slough and so the howls were drowned by the humans rushing to see the animals.  I walked out a ways, far from the people but their voices carried over to me.  And, so I drove down to another area and listened while taking a little video and a few faraway shots.

The trees were covered in frost and the air was bitter cold, causing my finger tips to ache horribly.  I added some hand warmers to the gloves and that was oh so much better.

I am impressed by all of the howling that we hear from the Prospect Peaks.  With 14 wolves, or how ever many were there today, the tonal range is quite amazing and many distinct voices can be heard.

Just think if a wolf in the landscape was only a mirage:

The thick fog rising from the frosty surface created a surreal look to this photo and made me ask myself, “What if I never got to see a wild wolf in the Landscape?”  I could not bear life without the howls.

As the Prospects retreated to the trees I left, heading further east.  The otters were out.

That is until I gathered my gear, dressed warm and hiked down the road, through deep snow and down the river embankment, at which time they were done playing with humans and decided to leave.

Hiked back out.  Huff, puff.  Two men that got yelled at by me for parking in a way that no one else could use the pullout, stood and waited for me to reach the river bank and offered their assistance in getting myself and my camera out of the deep hole.  Shame on me!  They turned out to be quite nice and I gave them some tips.

On to the east some more, most likely right past the Lamars after they served up their next meal, and onto 3 bull moose.

Got the camera gear out, dressed warm and began hiking out to Soda Butte Creek, following the path made by others.  My ankles gave out twice on the uneven surface and I got nearly out there and thought about leaving the camera and returning for snowshoes.  And then I looked at the bedded moose and thought, heck with it, I have enough shots of the moose lying in the willows.  Back I went.

Further east.  Apparently there was some sort of accident out towards Cooke City as they closed Pebble Creek parking lot in case they needed to bring the helicopter in.  The ambulance went by me, eerily quiet.

I decided to drive as far as Baronette before turning around.  This time I was looking for an ermine when I spotted one, far off, in the middle of a big snow field.  White on white.  This was a major thrill for me but I didn’t have much time to react so just threw the lens over the window and fired.  Better than nothing and I was a smiling!   Parked, got the gear out, dressed warm and hiked in the direction that the ermine went but it never came back out.  So, hiked back and got in the car to head west.  Smiling of course.

The Prospects were bedded on a hill and we briefly looked for 870, who appears to still be alone, though we did not see her.  Apparently, an unknown grey pup was at Slough Creek and an unknown but probably Prospect, female chased the pup and bit it in the butt.  I guess that they did interact but this is all second hand but the pup had to leave.  There is some speculation that it might be the missing JB grey pup!  Maybe it will keep its mama company.

The five mystery wolves were reported to be on the Blacktail again and Rick thinks it is possible that the collared black is 890, maybe joining a new family.  But, where did the family come from?  Rick and Laurie say that everything is all disorganized right now and we have no clue what is going on.  Drama promised to get even more intense.

And then we went to Lamar where we found a few wolves out in the valley, bedded down.  Rick began looking around and found Little Grey.  Laurie heard that a black and grey could be seen from the Confluence.  We went down there and could definitely see a photographer very close to what turned out to be a new bull elk carcass.  Looks to be a different elk than all of the others.  And then we began spotting wolves, bedded here and there.  We found 7 of the 8 with one black missing.  I would have preferred we found all of them.  But, that is just me.

And, so, I drove home, noticing that the Prospects were about to get up and do some moving. But, I drove on – plans and not feeling well, late in the afternoon.

Deby