YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

We were all hoping for a big grizzly COY year but I did not even consider the possibility of an explosion of new black bear families.  We had two very visible black bear families last year, that dominated the scene and the flow of traffic from opening day right up until mid-August when they disappeared into the back country for awhile.  Fall brought at least one family back to the road.

Well, this year we have those two families, although they will break apart soon when the sows kick the cubs in favor of mating, and many new ones.

I, personally, have not spent a lot of time with the black bears due to human ownerships and the pushing of the animals by being too close and long hours on the scene.  Though, I must say, black bear photography is tough and it often takes long days with the animals in order to get the shot.  The bears are in thick forests, behind tree limbs and deadfall, with tall grass obscuring their faces and that one moment when they are in the clear and photographable is a tough one.  Plus, light is an issue with black objects.

As you can see, there is always a blade of grass or stick in front of the animal.

And, so, I get it on the desire to get the right shot and have spent many an hour with them myself.  But, this year I am limiting my time so as to not monopolize the space and the bear’s time.  I leave to make room for others, non-professional photographers, to also get their moments.

The other day I lucked out and was able to pull over to park right before Picnic decided to come down the hill.  I quickly got out my sun roof and was able to get a few shots of her as she came down near my car, before it was time to duck back inside.  Less than 30 minutes later I left to move on to the wolves.

Lately, as I drive home in the evening, there have been many black bears near the road.  At Petrified Tree, Elk Creek, Floating Island, Hell Roaring and Phantom Lake – some have cubs and some are boars getting all fattened up for the mating season.

Last night I saw 5 black bears, one at Phantom Lake with two COY!  They are adorable.

It was pretty close to dark and little light but they sure made me smile.

Another black bear was up the hill from Phantom Lake and still another, my favorite of the evening, was at Floating Island Lake, harassing a bull elk.  Or, was the bull elk harassing the bear?

It was quite a late evening scene at Floating Island.  Obviously there was some sort of carcass, possibly in the water, where there were ravens.  Vicky told me that the bear had been digging around in something when the bull elk came along and the two had some interaction.  When I arrived the bull seemed to be leading the bear away from the scene, as he would stop and wait until the bear followed.  Also, there was two eagles, one in the grass and one in a tree above the ravens.  Probably one of the most incredible, mystifying scenes I have ever come across.  The elk and the bear disappeared into the forest, the eagles flew to whatever was dead near the edge of the water and the ravens made noise.

The other thing that I did not expect this year was the number of foxes in the area.  In a three mile radius we have 3 fox families – in the vicinity of Tower, in the area of the Yellowstone picnic stop and in the area of Petrified Tree.  I have located all but one of the dens and will be keeping a close eye on them.

In the meantime, the adults are out hunting and putting on quite a show.

These images are of the Tower couple.  They did a switch up on us yesterday and I did not realize it until looking at the images.  The male is young, heathy and beautiful.  The female, while beautiful, has bad teeth and a missing right eye – just her teeth alone makes me believe that she has some years on her.  But, she can hunt.

And here is a series of images of the male on the hunt.

And, one should never forget the dominant presence on the landscape, the bison and the red dog (calf).

Yellowstone is the land of plenty right now.  Plenty of green grass, new babies, people, drama and excitement.  We are so lucky to be here in our first national park and seeing life in the wild.  I hope that all of you are busy enjoying the park’s wonders and leaving the personal dramas back in the cities.  And, may you make the decision to put the welfare of the animals ahead of your own needs and desires.  We are so lucky to have these animals and it is our job to respect them.

Until tomorrow.

Deby