Wolves in Yellowstone

 I am so lucky.  This year, my best friend Sharon, stayed at our house while we went on a Pruss family vacation.  I had been very stressed because the dog sitter I had lined up for the week backed out and I was afraid I would not be able to go.  Mike's mother is in her mid-80's and she had planned a family trip to Yellowstone.  Oddly, I have never been to Yellowstone.  I was really looking forward to this trip because Yellowstone is a wolf watching mecca - and I love wolves.  I was telling Sharon my woes and she said, "I can come take care of the dogs"- WOW!!  It is a lot to ask someone and Sharon volunteered.  What a Great Friend!.  

  We did see wolves.  We were looking through our binoculars and spotting scopes and we saw a whole pack- way in the distance.  We could see adults and puppies (they looked like miniature adults).  There were bison in the foreground and a nice stream.  It was a very pretty area known as Slough Creek.  As we were watching, one black wolf started trotting down a path in our direction and we were all pleased that it was getting easier to see this individual as it was getting closer- but it was still fairly far away.   

July in Yellowstone is full of tourists and many people are there to see the wolves.  There are a few areas that are fairly reliable for sighting wolves, Slough Creek area and Lamar Valley.  "Wolf watchers" are a group of people who spend their days looking for the wolves, most of whom are people who spend their vacations going to the prime watching spots just to enjoy watching pack interactions.   As such, there are people who are at these prime watching spots looking. They have formed  a network and they keep in contact via radio and keep each other updated on the sightings.  Other tourists stop to ask if there are any wolves to be seen.  If yes, crowds gather along the road, if no, they ask if anyone in the network is seeing wolves, and where.   This location had a small crowd of people and vehicles along the road watching the wolves in the distance, and the one wolf that was trotting on a path towards the road.  

It was fun watching the pack with puppies in the distance, but after a while it became clear that the most exciting thing was the wolf that just kept coming closer, and closer, and closer to the road.  

For some unexplained reason Mike and I don't have a very good camera.  We both have really good quality binoculars, but our camera leaves a lot to be desired.  If these pictures are what we took with a bad camera, just think what our pictures could have looked like with a great camera!  The black wolf chose a path that took him directly to the roadside pull-off and the crowd of people.  The crowd parted and the wolf crossed the road.  The picture that looks a little "frosty" is the other side of the road and a different sun angle.  

  After the wolf was out of sight, we headed over to Lamar Valley.   It was early morning, and the road was full of tourists.  We could tell by the crowd that there was something interesting going on.   I wanted to jump out of the van, but had to wait until we could find a place to pull off the road.  I was afraid we were going to miss a wolf, but when we did stop and were able to get out, we found out that that while we had missed a chase, we didn't miss a wolf killing a bison calf.   I don't have any pictures because our camera was not good enough, but we were able to watch the wolf, a coyote, ravens, an immature bald eagle, and a few adult bull bison all interact out in a wide open space with perfect viewing.   I am so thankful. I could have stayed and watched all day- or at least until the wolf left, but we left before the wolf did.