YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

After last night’s mishap with the firewood, I nearly did not go into the park today.  Got up at my usual time and made myself go back to bed until it was time to be getting out the door.  Still wanted to sleep – so bad – but couldn’t.  So, got up, made the coffee, drank the coffee, did some computer work and finally left the house two hours later than usual.

Which meant that it was already light out and I could meander through the park trying to find my own thing.  Did photograph some elk but there was nothing else to see and so I slowly made my way towards Lamar Valley, thinking that maybe something good was going on because there wasn’t any traffic on the wolf radio.  Or, the Rick radio.

But, I saw a couple of photographers heading back to town so didn’t know what to think.

As I got to Slough Creek there was finally some radio traffic about wolves howling and on Secret Passage but out of view.  So, I pulled in at Slough, thinking I would look to the north but could immediately hear a lot of howling from the west.

I radioed Rick to let him know about the howling – news that he was happy to hear – and then took binoculars and camera out to Bob’s Knob.  The howling sounded close and so I hoped for photos but ended up wishing I had my scope.

Got out to the knob and could then, also, hear howling to the north.  So, there were two sets of howlers.  Some audio researchers came out and they got signals on the Prospects, which didn’t surprise me one bit.  Every time the Junctions set foot in Slough the Prospects magically return.

And then I let Rick know that the Prospects were down low – 6 blacks and 4 grays.  A lot of howling.  And then 4 blacks, including Twin and Thin Black Male (Rick says that at least 3 or the 4 were adult males) headed across Slough, towards the Junctions.  I watched them for awhile, until the passed the bathroom and headed up the hill, before they went out of sight.

Folks finally began coming out to the knob but all we had then were the six remaining wolves on the other side of the valley.

The alphas were both there.  For some reason 965 was not there – maybe he found a girl already.

Well, Rick went to another location where he could see the Junctions to the north and reported that they were running from something and going east.  So, I went to Lamar.

And, there were the Junctions, going across the front hill.  What a treat.  Still not super close for photos but to be able to see them with the naked eye was great.

907 and 890 traveled low, the closest to us, which is very unusual for 890.  He used to be one of the shyest wolves in the park.  The interesting part was that he stayed close to 907 but they never really interacted.  The females should be coming into heat but we did not see any signs of that.

The pack traveled the hillside in front of us and bedded on a nearby hill, up high enough on the crest that we could barely see them.

And, so things slowed down.  Everyone said that with the way the day began they didn’t think they would be seeing wolves.  But we all had nice surprises.

We went back over to Slough to watch the Prospects, hoping to see the 4 blacks return but they did not.  The others did move up the hill when some skiers went down the road but that was our excitement.  763 was having a very hard time with his leg, which has been broken twice, and at one point was not putting any weight on it.  It was hard to watch him struggle up the hill and through the snow.

They were boring so we went back to Lamar.  And, the Junctions were boring, bedded on the hill, so I went to leave.  Got to Slough and Rick said there was a chance of seeing the Lamars near the ranch.  That meant we had all three packs very close together.

I went back and looked for the Lamars but didn’t see them and so headed west, towards home.  But, I didn’t get very far when I saw a group of elk on a hill, all bunched up.  Sure sign of hunting.  And, then I saw two grays at the bottom of the hill and when I stopped to look closer discovered that they appeared to be eating something.  And, then I saw the rest of the pack on top of the hill, to the right of the elk.  I called to let everyone know and turned the car around so I could get some shots from the road because there are no pullouts right there.

Turned out that 911 and the male yearling had an elk calf down and were just finishing the kill.

Boy did that happen quickly!  I was watching the two wolves when a fox went by and headed straight towards the carcass.

I missed the fox going behind me to cross the road and it never turned to look my way but it was still a fox and a three dog day.  Was curious that it was heading towards the wolves without much fear but that is what it did – went up there and bedded down to watch.

One by one the wolves on top of the hill began to come down to the carcass but it was pretty close to dark when they all came down.

This was the hill crew, watching the others eat.

Watching the stragglers, 890 and 970 come down the hill.  Rick mentioned that 970 was flirting with 890 while 911 was busy with the carcass but that 890 was not interested.  Not yet anyway.

It was pretty much dark but I continued to take pics – doing some slow shutter speed just to document the moments.

What an exciting day in wolf world!

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.  I drove home in the dark, still excited about the day.  Though, I did feel sorry for the calf and the cow that lost the calf.  They have been hanging around that hill all winter, until today.  Nature is hard and this is the nature of the wolves.  I say, if you can’t accept a wolf’s nature then you don’t know what you are fighting for.

Deby

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