YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Yesterday morning, with a tad bit of a late start, I had the pleasure of enjoying gorgeous light and activity around Blacktail Lakes.  A wolf, black, scarred and battered, was making its way across the hill above the lake and this had numerous folks excited because one could actually see the black dot with the naked eye.  I took a couple of shots but what most intrigued me was the morning light on the ponds, spring fresh green grasses and the bison that were on a mission to go somewhere.

There were so many red dogs, it was kind of unbelievable.  Healthy calves this year and I would say that we now have more bison than before the park service and hunters killed 500 of them earlier this year.  This makes me wonder if bison are like coyotes, the more you kill, the more babies that they have.  Or, possibly it is just an example of how management of the herds can make the rest healthier because of more food to eat.  Just a few ideas lingering in my mind for me consider.  I like to try and see all sides to a situation – putting the good, bad and indifferent together for the whole.

It was interesting, while standing out there.  One man remarked about the different coloring of one of the cows, because her coat was so much lighter.  What I have come to learn about that is that the animal is old and not doing well.  Their coats turn sort of blond, but not in a healthy way, and nine times out of 10, their backbone and ribs will be showing.  Unfortunately, bison cows have calves until they die and this leaves many orphaned babies, unable to survive on their own.  I have watched an old bison mom, struggling to keep going for the sake of her youngster, unable to do so.  These scenes tear my heart out – I hate to see the animals suffering.  But, then I hate to see anything suffering for any reason.

I watched this pair last year and it truly broke my heart to watch this mom trying to survive for her baby.  Never saw the end result but doubt that she lasted long.

It was a pleasant morning and I enjoyed the Blacktail scene thoroughly and so stayed out for quite awhile, until most of the bison had moved on.

Not long after leaving the lakes, I saw some cars parked near North Butte and noticed a black dot moving up the hill.  Never did I imagine that the black bear would come up to all of us at the pullout, where most everyone was sitting in their cars by the time he got close, and walk right on by to cross the road, where he was nearly hit by a small car.

This particular black bear boar has his own camera attached.  Luckily, this will drop off after 40 some days and be retrieved by the park service.  But, he must have captured some wold class footage yesterday.  And, he was a beautiful bear.

In Little America I was so very excited to finally see the LA sow, fairly close, with babies!  This sow hasn’t been successful with raising cubs and so comes out nearly every year with new COY.  This year she came out with 3 and has already lost one.  When not with cubs she tends to come close to the road but for the most part stays away from the people with the little ones in tow, which might help them survive.  I do hope she succeeds this year.

Anyway, this is where my day took a downturn.  Someone came rushing up behind me yelling about how they had all of the “major,” ones, proceeding to name the species they had seen.  I don’t do well with people being loud, coming up behind me – just one of those things that happens when one has an infection in their brain and things get out of alignment – and turned quickly.  At which time, my camera and big lens rolled onto the ground from a height of about 5 feet.  This shot isn’t good but I think that is because of distance and heat waves, but I think that the lens is okay and it just broke the rotating collar that mounts onto the tripod.  Which means I have to send everything to Nikon and that will take several weeks.

Well, no use in crying over spilt milk, so I carried on with the day and was so glad for that.

Next stop was Slough Creek to see the Junction puppies.  One of the yearlings was busy playing with something that I could not see.  It was pouncing, wagging its tail, jumping around and having fun.  Finally, a couple of black pups came into view for a brief time.  The grass is tall so it is hard to see the pups but how much more delightful can it get than to see the yearlings playing with the little ones?

I then went for a very long, fairly tough hike, into the backcountry where I had everything to myself.  It was surreal in its quiet and I considered myself very lucky to have those moments.

There was a bison bull, all by himself, lying in a meadow with nothing but the birds, squirrels and other small critters around.   No noise, no people shoving cameras in his face, no traffic.  Just peace and tranquility and I wanted to be him.  I wanted to have the freedom to remove myself from the fray and just wander through trees, lying down whenever, and not having to answer to anyone.  No ugliness, no BS, just him and the world that he chooses to spend his time in.  People have to have cars, gas, homes, food, clothing, etc. – they can’t just walk out there and survive.  I envy the bison.