YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Some of you might recall that not long ago a British wolf watcher attempted to crush my reputation by flooding the internet with images of me close to a wolf – that wolf was the darling and sweet 889F.  Locals came to me during this time and basically said, “How dare you,” go so close to that wolf.

I have a long and sordid history with female, lone wolf, 889F.  I have looked into her eyes and felt my heart break for her time after time as it seems as though this is one female wolf that can not catch a break.

Last spring I saw her for the first time as she came across Little America, all fat with puppies.  Her then beau, 890M (now the alpha male of the Junction Buttes) was far behind and not one bit interested in coming close to people who lined the road.

889 lost her puppies and her and 890 lived in the Antelope Flats area, together, for most of the summer – rarely seen.

Before 889 and 890 took off together, our boy, 755M (the ex-alpha of the Lamar Canyons) had tried to woo her away from her pack – the Junction Buttes, but without success.

One day 755 was seen headed that way, towards Antelope Flats, all alone.  At the time I told someone he was going to finally get his girl, 889.  The next time the two wolves were seen 755 and 889 were happy and together.  890 had re-joined the Junction Buttes and not long afterwards, Puff, the alpha male disappeared and he became the alpha.  As the wolf world turns in Yellowstone.

And, then, several months ago, after the two had been in Jardine during hunting, 755 and 889 re-appeared and our girl had a bad injury to her right front foot. Some say she was shot but there was no wound – I say that she was caught in a trap and released because hunting was over and she wore a collar.  Just my theory.

755 ran 889 all over with that bad foot and every time we saw her she had a smile on her face and was working her heart out to stay with her man.   My own heart broke time and time again for our girl.

And, then, one day, I was on a tour with some friends and Nathan Varley.  The couple, 755 and 889, had been out in Lamar Valley and 755 had made his way to the now infamous, fake, chase hill.  He was quite a wonderful site up there, looking down upon us.

Before long, 889 began to slowly, painfully, make her way across the valley.  We watched as she got closer and assumed that she would cross the road well away from where we stood. But, 889 got on the road and decided to come join us.  This was the most surreal moment of my time watching wolves.  The wolf watchers were present and we all stood in amazement as this big, gorgeous wolf, with a huge snowball attached to her GPS collar continued towards us.  At one point, Rick walked up to her and did a gentle clap to urge her off of the road, so she went around but only a little ways.

Afterwards, 889 made her way up the hill towards 755 but stopped on a knoll right below him.  In the meantime, 755, not knowing that 889 was close, got up and left.  My heart broke – she had worked so hard to get to her man.

The two wolves split up as 755 went looking for another mate.  Apparently, 889’s injury made her unsuitable for the job of alpha female, but she is a happy survivor and went off to entertain herself while 755 flirted with another.

In the end, 755 lost the other female to 911, Mr. Disaster, but we thought that he had at least made both females pregnant.  He and 889 resumed their time together but once she either aborted or lost her pups, he left her again.  The other female did not have pups either, so no kids for our boy.

And, so, 889 has been on her own once again.  Before the fateful day when she walked up to me, I had been very close to her several times, but not by choice because each time I saw her beautiful eyes, or watched her on the road, my heart broke.  It has been like watching a wild wolf die.

To that end I have, myself, tried several times to alert Rick and law enforcement when seeing 889 by the road, in hopes of getting her hazed.  Each time law enforcement arrived right after she left the road and went about her business.

The day that she walked up to me, as I stood behind my car, photographing her and 755 as they traveled across the sage on the other side of the road, a small part of me died.  After visiting me she stayed on the road while 755 paralleled her and so I got in behind her and held traffic back, worried that she might be hit.  Of course, this same person accused me of shadowing her with my car and preventing her from crossing the road but I was well back from the wolf and trying to provide her space to cross.  But, the wolf chose the road.  The wolf watcher said that 889 was assisted across the road by law enforcement but by the time the ranger arrived, 755 and 889 had both crossed and gone about their merry way.  I was disappointed that she missed being hazed one more time.

Recently, I had decided to quit photographing 889 whenever she was close to the road – not wanting to see her die a little at a time.  The happy spark has gone out of her face and the trials of the past six months show on her but she keeps going.  She is a lone survivor and I relate to her deeply.  We both keep going, no matter what.

And then a couple of days ago some new friends showed me a pronghorn fawn and while we were photographing it, also told me that they had seen everything but the elusive wolf.  I knew that 889 had been seen that morning and so told them that if they stuck around they would see a wolf that evening and that they would see her close.  I had gone hiking earlier in the day and come across an old bison carcass and even though it was pretty much gone, it stunk enough to call in all predators.

We left the pronghorn baby and immediately found a crowd of people watching a collared black wolf, resting in the sage.  I was later told that she had been resting right next to the road for quite some time.

Suddenly, 889 stood up, alerted to the presence of this pronghorn who was keeping a good eye on the wolf.  889 began walking across the sagebrush and I told people where they would see her again and she was most obliging as she went to momentarily check on the bison carcass.

And, then, 889 slowly made her way towards the road.  I knew that Rick was on his way and so let him know that she had made that fatal turn, hoping and praying that law enforcement would get to her in time.

Before making it to the road, 889 roused the ire of some coyotes that chased her off and down to a pond below where we stood.  Poor 889 had her tail tucked as the coyotes stared at her but when she gave a bark the song dogs scattered.  The first time I have seen a wolf bark.

As she made her way towards the road, I quit photographing 889 and tried to help clear an area where she could cross.  Everyone was great about getting out of the wolf’s way, except one couple who stood right above her and refused to move.  I told them that they were being selfish and they asked who I was.

“Someone who cares about the animals,” I told them.

And, so, 889 did not cross there but those two people may have helped to get her hazed because law enforcement, Brian Chan, arrived right about then.  And, 889, always helpful, decided to cross the road behind Chan’s patrol rig, without a care or fear in the world.

With my other camera put away, I grabbed one with a shorter lens and prepared to capture the hazing action.  By this time the light was very low and so the images are not great but you will get the point.

889 crosses the road without a care and Ranger Chan goes into action.

While I was relieved that some reconditioning training was finally taking place with 889, which is action that might save her life, from cars, hunters or the park having to destroy her, my heart broke some more.  My eyes were filled with tears, seeing the girl have to go through one more bad thing.  She had felt so safe with us and has been through one disappointment after another.  I have watched as her eyes have grown wiser with the knowledge that this wild world is not a kind place.  Again, I relate to this wolf with my heart.

But, my hope is that she will survive the world’s cruelty and that by this time next year she will have her own man and some youngsters to look after.  She provides well for herself.  I only wish good things for her and if the aversive training is so successful that I never get a close photo of her again, then I will be happy.

Please do not feed the wild animals – you are only harming them, not helping them.  We don’t know that 889 has ever been fed by humans but if she has this could cause her to become more aggressive in trying to get food from them.  Right now, this wolf does not have an aggressive bone in her body when it comes to people.  Her eyes are filled with kindness but her light is growing weary.