YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Tonight’s report comes from Yellowstone’s neighbor – Grand Teton National Park.  Did you know that the two park’s used to be married but got a divorce?  Well, I know that it is all considered the Greater Yellowstone Area but do love that they are two parks because that means that in a very short distance, and about 3 hours, I get to be somewhere else where the mountains reach high into the sky.

I came down to the Tetons yesterday, after a slow drive through Yellowstone and stopping to see 755 and his gal on a carcass in Hayden.  I also looked for otters, owls and bears but struck out.  The drive was wonderful but now that I am here and it has been raining most of the time, I wish I had hurried.

My reason for coming to the Tetons was to capture some Fall landscapes but I really just wanted to have fun shooting wildlife because that seems impossible in Yellowstone any more.  Very little wildlife to be found and when found the area is either closed down for a mile or there are so many people you can’t get close.  Or, if you get close they get closer and step in front of your camera.  So, yeah, I wanted to have some fun photographing some animals.

And, I am having a blast, rain or no rain.

This morning, because of the lovely sound of raindrops, I slept in until 7:30, which is pretty amazing.  And, I was surprised by the beautiful red glow that had found its way beneath the clouds.  Was not really sure what I would find or if I would be able to get shots because of low light and rain but decided to try anyway.  And, did not make it far because a moose couple had come down to the open end of the campground to show us some moose love.

I mostly sat in my car, trying to get the best angle to avoid the campers, cars and people in the background and did not do too bad.

The bull was marking a spot, over and over again.  And then suddenly the cow was ready and she went over to him but before she could get there he went to the ground.

She nuzzled him and flirted but he ignored her.  The tide had turned and it was his turn to play hard to get and he did it well.  They laid there for quite a while and when they got up she tried to nuzzle his rear but every time he turned his head she jumped back. She was being cautious.  I did take video – the light was so low with the rain that it was difficult.

After a little nuzzling and standing around she went back to grazing, leaving him standing there.

She wanted to cross the road but there were too many people and so the two of them decided to take another nap and I decided to leave.

I did hear that they were out away from the campground this afternoon but I was out looking for bears and only managed to see one, sort of.  It was kind of quiet on the wildlife side and a bust on the landscape side with no mountains showing but it was a simply wonderful day for many reasons.

At the moment it is pouring rain, which is a sound that I love on my tent.  But, generators are roaring in the campground, much past shut off time and so, that is the way it goes – there are special people everywhere who only care about themselves.

I have little news from Yellowstone today, except that there is a rumor that one park wolf was killed in the hunt – in Jardine.  No answers from anyone on how they know it to be a park wolf or which one it was.