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Tag Archives: yellowstone

Preparing for Winter

There was one overlook in Yellowstone that was often full of cars. The first time I stopped to see what was attracting people, someone told me there was a black bear in a hole across the way. It was easy to see the hole and sometimes, if the light was just right, I could see bear fur but it took several visits before I got a good look at the bear. And then, on our last day, she was outside the den! People referred to the bear as a her/she so I went along with that. She slowly moved across the ground, scraping dry vegetation that she would collect and drag and then she backed up into the hole, as if she was making a nest for cubs that might arrive in the winter. I’d love to be there next spring when she emerges and maybe get a glimpse of those cubs!

Yellowstone Wildlife

Yellowstone is famous for its wildlife. We drove around and glassed hillsides and watched for animal traffic jams. Some people hire guides (and there seems to be no shortage of guide services) so we watched for their signs too. We saw wolves several times but mostly had distant views through scopes or binoculars. Same with the mountain goats. Bison, on the other hand, were common and often close, too close for comfort. Somehow I missed getting any photos of elk although we did see a lot of them. We only saw two moose and then in the deep dark forest on a gray day. Coyotes were relatively common but generally not in camera range.

Scenes from a National Park

Yellowstone is an amazing place to visit. So much to see. And I didn’t even get to half of it.

Ravens

Am I the only person who goes to Yellowstone National Park and returns with hundreds of photos of ravens? Why so many? Ravens in the park are very habituated to people. They see parking lots as sources of food – either crumbs left behind or as hand outs from unknowing tourists. I was kneeling down photographing one bird when they kept going over to a car and I realized that the man inside was dropping potato chips for them. Here is a post from my last trip to Yellowstone.

Sometimes they are in trees calling frequently. At one place, a raven made a sound like a wild turkey! It was hilarious and I only wish that I had thought to record it. When I got out of my car, I honestly thought there was a turkey in the area even though I’m pretty sure there are no turkeys in Yellowstone.

Some of the ravens had colored bands on their legs. Someone must be studying them. I’d like to know more about that.

Wolves in Yellowstone

Of all the wildlife in Yellowstone, the wolves attract the most attention. There are people that live near the park who go out every single day to watch for wolves with spotting scopes, binoculars and cameras in hand. Most of the those people are incredibly friendly and ready to help tourists like us to find wolves and see them through the spotting scopes. They know wolves by name or number and they know the packs and which ones we might expect to see. Additionally, the National Park Service and Yellowstone Forever have a Wolf Project that started the week we were there and will continue through the month of March. These researchers were also happy to share any info they had about the wolves and other wildlife. We learned a lot while we were there. We also got a healthy dose of patience waiting to see the famous Lamar pack. These animals’ ancestry can be traced back to the original re-introduction in 1995 and 1996.

We were thrilled to see wolves hunting, eating, resting, playing and moving across the landscape. Overall we saw four different packs and three wolves from a not yet identified pack. Most of the sightings were through a spotting scope on distant hillsides. The Lamar pack had a carcass across a meadow, estimated at 300-400 yards away from the roadside where we waited to see them for hours. At last, near dusk when many of the wolf-watchers had left, they emerged to eat for a while before melting back into the woods.

The carcass was down in a draw, out of sight in front of the evergreen trees
This is a digiscoped image – the photo was made with a cell phone looking through a scope.