YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

The southern portion of Yellowstone, in the Canyon and Fishing Bridge districts, is where you can find a lot of grizzlies, fabulous rangers and good friends.

There are three sows with twin cubs each – Raspberry with Snow and Rocky, Hayden sow with Rollie and Ilean, and Blaze with her two youngsters.  I have no idea of names for Blaze’ cubs but must say that I have barely seen them.

In addition to the sows with cubs we have Valley Girl, 5 year old daughter of Hayden sow, Valley Boy, 5 year old son of Hayden sow.  A blonde grizzly female that kicked three blonde 2 years olds, 789 the problem from the Teton area, and many more.  But several of these are being seen often.

Recently, a young bison cow, yearling, was killed by a car and Hayden found the carcass and set up residence.  It is rare for a sow to get a good meat meal all to herself because of the risk of boars coming in and killing the cubs.  But, somehow, she has managed 3 days on the carcass with no other bears coming in.  I have heard about one coyote and have seen a few ravens.  No wolves reported at the carcass either.  So, I would say that Hayden is either a scary woman that no one wants to mess with or that she just knows how to keep a meal to herself.

Hayden kept the carcass well covered with grass that she raked up with her claws but it still smelled pretty ripe when the wind blew our way.  She some times slept with the carcass and some times went off about 100 yards, where she could keep an eye out.  After awhile the bears felt comfortable enough to cross the river and graze, sleep, and nurse for hours at a time.  When on the carcass the little family provided thousands of visitors with a fabulous show and many people went home with fabulous memories.

We were extremely lucky to have this show because the carcass was closer than 100 yards and the rangers were willing to deal with the crowds and traffic.  Most people were well-behaved but some were not so good at following the rules.  I was most impressed by the patience they displayed.  And, with the amount of interpretation and sharing that the rangers did.  Some of the rangers set up scopes and even helped visitors get photos on their phones and iPads.  They really went above and beyond.

Here are just a few scenes from the show.

The wolves of Lamar have been hit and miss lately.  To be honest, they are quite hungry and having troubles finding food.  And, so they have been out hunting, separately and together.  Kind of spread out and going in different directions.

This morning we found 965, Dark Black and Little T heading out looking for a meal.  While the boys stayed on the north hill, Little T came right on down and crossed the road, on her way to an old bison carcass.  Once at the carcass, a herd of bison joined her but our brave girl held her ground and was not intimidated.  We have another little Spitfire on our hands.

That group on the left stopped and asked me where they should park.  I think that they were very happy with my suggestion!  Lizzie, in the white government car is standing by and keeping Little T safe as she crosses the road.

I have some great video of Little T with the bison and it will be a treasure.  Afterwards she took a valley lap, looking for morsels to chew on, before bedding under a tree and waiting for the crowd to clear.

Meanwhile, 926 had not been home first thing in the morning but she snuck back while we were out with the other three.  I assume all 7 adults are there but we haven’t seen Twin and Mottled for several days.  Still waiting on pups!

The wolves are hungry and this is typically a hard time of year for them but the fact that their lives are still centered around the den speaks well for the existence of pups.  So, no real reason for concern at this time.

Deby