YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Officially, the day I met Spitfire was the first day that 06′ showed her 2011 pups to the world, though it took me some time to realize that her and 820 were running around on the hill that day.

I remember that day so well because it was the first time that I braved the wolf watching world, though very few of them were out there then.  I inched up to one of the rolling hills and began talking to someone about this and that.  Suddenly a scream of excitement erupted and everyone busied themselves at their scopes because the new pups had been found.  Yes, and I even had the nerve to ask them what the big deal was and was told it was because they had not known until that moment that any pups had survived.  At the time I remember wondering why they would not survive.

And so there were little grey and black bundles of joy running around in the trees on the den hillside and everyone was happy.  It did not take long for the crowd to grow and grow.

Never did I guess what an impact that day would have on me, several years later.  Just putting together the pieces of who I had seen and how I got to meet them again as two-year olds.

But, I was all eyes for 820 and the scrawny little black wolf that my friends had named Spitfire never registered with me.  She was just there from time to time.

But, one day I stood by myself at the Confluence, guessing that there was a chance that the Lamar Canyon wolves would come down the hillside, or most likely go across.  I stood there feeling like a fool, thinking that everyone over at Hitching Post was enjoying wolves and laughing at me for missing the action.

After quite some time I carried my equipment to the car but just as I put my hand on the door handle there was a big splash.

Not even guessing that wolves would be involved, I inched around the curve and looked down at the water and there she was, Spitfire hanging out with a bull elk.  It was quite a sight because the elk stood in the water and the wolf wandered around, drank some water and pretty much ignored the elk.  I stood behind a sign post, not wanting to get too close that it would interrupt whatever she was doing, or make her run away.

For a long time I had Spitfire and that elk to myself, watching as they interacted with one another.  The elk was pretty much fairly relaxed and not too worried.  Spitfire kept looking up the hill, like are you guys coming or what?

But, all good things come to an end and before long someone realized that there were wolves in the creek and a few people came running over to watch.  Not many, a couple of photographers, Bob L. and a couple of others, while the crowd remained at Hitching Post.  We were very fortunate because all was quiet and the rest of the pack, or several others, came down to the street.

When Bob arrived he went way closer than I had been so we all followed and the wolves were a bit spooked by us.  That was when I changed the camera to video and recorded them howling and the sound was nearly perfect because everyone was so quiet.  I have that video – here it is on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzY85V52hgo.

The wolves went back to the hill and the elk followed.  It was a long time before I saw Spitfire again.

And here she is yesterday, as the mama of somewhere between 5 and 7 puppies.  Five were seen yesterday – 4 black and one grey.  Oh, happy days.  She is living up to her name.

Look for more soon!