YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Another day sitting and watching a dead bison.  Breathing in the wondrous smells of death and rot.  Fingers and toes numb from cold, standing in snow, dodging  rednecks pulling snowmobiles and waiting, waiting for wolf action.  Come on WOLVES!

Woofs, as my friends say, when referring to wolf enthusiasts who only see the physical beauty of the animal and not the wondrous way in which wolves take care of our planet.  I call them the great balancers of nature.  I mean, just think about it – who would eat this bison carcass in winter, if not for the wolves?  Well, the birds – ravens, eagles and magpies – and the foxes and coyotes but if they weren’t in the park they would be dead too.  And, the foxes and coyotes can’t even break into a bison carcass so it would have to sit and rot for a long time before anything could eat a meal.  With the bears in their dens, this carcass would have been blowing up and emitting gases for quite a while.  Thank goodness we have the wolves to feed, so that they can clean things up.

BTW, the bison died a natural death and was nature’s gift to the wolves as the bull will provide a lot of good food for them.

As always, the day dawns and the wolves move off into the forest to sleep until late afternoon.  Only today, they slept in view and so we could at least see them, sleeping.  And when they did finally come down to eat, there was no running, no playing, no enthusiasm, just eating.  Apparently, their little bodies are stuffed and they are lethargic.  I so wanted to see them playing together but it was a quiet day.

Although we did have a lot of entertainment.  The wolf project ladies danced and sang.  A YA volunteer brought plaster to make casts out of wolf tracks.  Someone got stuck and had to be pulled out.  And, folks stopped by to see the wolves.  Oh, and the sun was shining with blue skies!  That was a biggie.  And the sun even felt warm for a few moments or so.

So, a lazy day, some times fun, some times boring, but another good day in Yellowstone.

Other pack updates:  Junction Buttes seen with 6 today – they are missing 3 pups. I so hope that the pups are okay and that they make it back to the family.  The uproar caused by the Prospect Peak pack seems to have taken a toll on the family but lets hope it is temporary.  The Prospect Peak – 7 were seen today, way off in the distance and this morning before 9.  They had been seeing 9 and think that the 4 that have been shadowing the JB’s might still be in the Lamar area.  The Mollies seem to have left as suddenly as they arrived, and without causing too many problems.  They sure caused a lot of excitement for wolf lovers.

We have moose once again.  Between Round Prairie and Warm Creek, 5 have been seen.  I’ve seen 3 but not for photos.

Unseasonal warm temperatures have made being outdoors very pleasant.  Savoring each second because it will end soon.

Here are some photos of the Lamar Canyons from today.