YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Got going a little later than usual, which allowed me a nice, slow, scenic drive through the park on my way out to Lamar.  Clouds threatened rain, which we eventually got but it blew through hard and quit.  And then the wind just blew and a storm is expected tonight.

The grizzly on the Blacktail had left the carcass this morning, after a gentleman decided to walk out to him and sip his morning coffee.  The bear had other plans and decided to find a safer place to rest.

You all might get sick of bison babies, but I don’t!  In Little America there were more orange dots than I could count and so it was a good spot to just sit and enjoy the antics.  I particularly got a kick out one calf that seemed to be discovering water for the first time.

A little ways down the road was a badger in the middle of the road, on the yellow line, with a raven.  The two appeared to be arguing over some roadkill.  Unfortunately, the badger wasn’t all that social with me and took off running.

I got to Lamar just as it was beginning to rain and as Little T began to make her way to the bison carcass.  What I did not know at the time was that several Mollies wolves were just south of her and she did not seem to know either.  I was thrilled to see the girl and quickly checked to see if she was nursing.  Her belly is bare, which is a sign of nursing and so she is!  There are two litters of pups for the Lamars, which is great news.  The fact that about 6 or 7 Mollies were back in the valley was not good news for the Lamar Canyons.  We just hope for the best.

During half time at the bison carcass I headed out towards Soda Butte Valley to see if there were any other Lamars out and about and ran into a big crowd watching the bison babies cross the Lamar River.  Boy does that look scary and I got to witness moms really looking after their youngsters.

And just a ways further east was a couple of moose hanging in the willows.

Back to the carcass and the Mollies had shown up on the other side of the valley, harassing some bison.

And then another wolf appeared to the north and it was not a Lamar.  Whenever a miscellaneous black wolf appears, it is called a Mollie.  This one very well could be a Mollie yearling and if so it was very brave to come down the hill, cross the road and go feed on the carcass while we watched.

The wind began blowing, hard, and a hike was out of the question as it was just too cold and miserable.  The Junction puppies had been out but then the adults went off to hunt and the puppies went inside, so none of them to look at.  It was certain that there would be more activity in Lamar, possibly at the carcass, but, well, it was just too cold and too many hours off.

There are rumors that the black bear activity is good around Tower but I have not seen any.

And the grizzly was at the carcass on the Blacktail.  Actually, he was sleeping a little ways from the food.  He would look up, look around and fall back to the ground to rest some more.

There are grouse at Lake Butte Overlook.

But, on the way out of the park, I ran into more bison babies.

See you tomorrow!