YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Yesterday morning, I had a plan – to find the pronghorn babies.  But, plans have a way of changing when in Yellowstone.

The first thing that I noticed was that the Blacktail road was finally open and so down I went over the bumpy, dirt road.  I never see anything down there so not sure why I put myself through that road, except that the landscape is lush and beautiful.  So, I don’t understand why there are not any animals along the way.

I was going to do the road twice when I heard that a wolf was being seen in Little America.

Well, I didn’t make it to the wolf either – not until late in the day when I found 890M wandering through.  But, that happened later.

Because I decided to check on the black bears first and discovered that we were actually being allowed to view the bears from several different locations.  The scene was quiet and peaceful and in this part of the park, if one can actually get into a position to see the animals for photos, it is good to take the opportunity.  Often, they want viewing stations that are only appropriate for scopes and useless for getting photos.  I love it when we are allowed to enjoy ourselves and use the park as it was intended – which often depends on how people are behaving at the scene.

Anyway, I spent the entire day, until after 4, with the black bears.  Never did get any really nice shots but, as always, enjoyed watching them play.

Afterwards, we went looking for pronghorn babies and I still did not see any but did notice that the wildflowers are going nuts and lighting Yellowstone with a bright yellow.

Went out to Lamar where I learned that the Lamar Canyons had been on a mule deer carcass at Foot Bridge yesterday morning.  So, that was close!  Sorry I missed that but very happy to hear that they had been seen because I was worried about them.  Spitfire took the deer’s head back to the den for her children to play with and chew on.  Sure am anxious to learn how many pups they have and how they are doing.  Am thinking that they will all be black.  Oh, and Jeremy told me that Big Grey is only 4 years-old!  Doug has always thought that he was an old wolf but I thought him to be a goofy youngster that had a lot to learn.  Good to hear that he is young and that the two might have several years together, if they are able to stay safe.  Jeremy said that Spitfire had no use for people and got out of there quickly, which is good to hear.

Several people are seeing wolves but getting photos of them, except for 889 is getting harder.  When I talked to Rick a couple of days ago he told me that after 755 was seen in Hayden, he simply vanished and no one knows where he is.  I hope that our boy is okay and has maybe found a happy place.  The Junction Buttes are in a constant state of flux, with Disaster, 911, and the black female coming and going, taking yearlings with them at will.  Rick is wondering if the black female had pups last year because she spent a lot of time at the den.  The wolf situation in Yellowstone is dire at this time – there just aren’t many around and so many of them disappeared last year.  Am afraid that there are some active poachers out there but we just really don’t know what happened.  Maybe the wolf project knows but we don’t.  And, with the Canyons not having pups, wolf viewing in Hayden will be slim.  I have such a difficult time understanding this whole thing…

Anyway, after talking to Jeremy, I was headed back when someone told me there was a sow with 4 cubs on the hill.  All I saw was 5 bison so am not sure what the deal was there.  But, I did find 890M trotting through – he is the alpha male of the Junction Buttes.  I think he might have had a carcass back by the aspen, where a black bear was hanging out.  The two were probably arguing over the food.

A rain and lightening storm came through, very quickly and a full rainbow formed over Little America.  I went on home as night was falling.  No pronghorn babies but there is always today.