YELLOWSTONE'S WILD WORLD

Another day of high wolf drama with Lamar Valley as the center stage.

I was nearing Slough creek where I expected we might see 926 and the boys off in the distance but, no, they were looking for the Junctions in that area.  And, Rick announced that he had the Mollies in view.  Damned Mollies!  Wish they would stay home because my heart can not take much more wolf drama at this time.

But, yes, the Mollies were bedded on a hill on the south side of the valley, while the Junctions were just west of them, though not immediately seen.  And, 926 was back at the den area where she remained, unseen, all day.  Still no sign of any pups.

Before long the Mollies were on the move and I must admit that the sight of 12 wolves running across a snow field simply took my breath away.  Great view in the scope as they ran.  Dots in the camera but I was in awe of the sight.

We got to watch them for quite awhile, considering, as they ran all of the way across Jasper Bench.

I did not realize that the Mollie pack was 20 years old and the only original pack still in existence.  That is an amazing fact.  Another amazing point is that the pack was nearly gone two years ago.  The alpha male killed while hunting and the alpha female killed, possibly in a fight.  That left 779 down there to carry on, along with 5 pups that may or may not have been hers.  I saw her mom, 686 carry a leg quite aways to the rendezvous site, which made me think that they were her pups.  Maybe some of both.  Anyway, there were 5 pups until they collared one and it died the next day.  So, guess it is easy to tell what happened there.  But, another amazing thing is that all four of the remaining yearlings, soon to be 2, are still with the pack and the six pups are still alive.  This pack lives in one of the roughest areas of the park for winter survival and they must depend on bison for food.  Wolves being killed from hunting bison is common because they are tough to kill.  They appear to be a cohesive, happy and strong pack.  Just wish they would stay south.

The Mollies ran through and the Junctions climbed higher but stayed somewhat in view.  We were kind of wishing they would just get out of there.  When we lost the Mollies it looked like they were going to the other side of the hill and so I went over to Crystal to wait.  We waited quite awhile and several folks left.  But, finally, they appeared and it looked like they were going to come down to us.

They were backlit and tough to see but it was exciting just the same.  Until they turned and went back the other way.  They were in the area, somewhere, but that was the last we saw of them for today.

But, at one point the Junctions were running for their lives.  Literally.  They were split and running as hard as they could go for quite some time.  I think they all got out okay but, geez, give that pack a break.  Wonder why they are getting picked on so much?  Later, when leaving the park, it looked like the crew was going to look for them down in the river on the bison carcasses, so they had crossed the road at some point.

That was enough drama for the day.

With the changes in the Lamar Canyon pack and the pups missing the wolves have really taken center stage lately but that will change soon, for awhile anyway, while they are denning.  Things should be calmer for a little while. But, there really isn’t much going on in the park yet.  The bison bulls have been pretty frisky and fun.

The bulls have been ornery and not really happy with having their pictures taken.

The guy up on the cone eventually tried to sneak up on me while I was photographing his buddies. He was amusing himself with thoughts of my demise.

And the coyotes on Round Prairie have finally come closer to the road for some mousing, after spending the bulk of winter at the back, far away.  I have seen a total of 5 coyotes hanging out there.

By the way, very little snow left.  Still some in places but most of the northern range is bare.

Okay, that does it for tonight.