Winter Wolf 11

Winter Wolf 2011

Photo
Collection

Northern Yellowstone Wolf Range

What is about wolves that creates fascination and awe for some, while others view them, not as a symbol of the wild, but rather as a threat to be exterminated? This trip is about the awe and fascination that comes from within after you spend 5 days with two eminent wolf biologists who are the proprietors of Yellowstone Wolf Guides (The Wild Side). This was my second trip with Nathan and Linda (Yellowstone 2007) and is one of my most memorable outdoor experiences. Yellowstone was at her grandest under a thick blanket of snow and the wildlife was in play, as you will see from the coming pages.

Within the area above, three wolf packs lay claim to a vast spread of pristine wilderness. The largest of these three is the Blacktail pack containing 14 individuals (3 adult females, 3 adult males, 4 yearlings and 4 pups), followed by the Agate Creek pack with 8 (2 adult females, 2 adult males, 2 gray pups and 2 black pups) and Lamar Canyon lead by the infamous 06 Gray female with 7 members (1 adult female, 2 adult males, 4 gray pups) We were treated to numerous sightings of the packs during our 5 days, as well as witnessing some remarkable behaviour and dramatic scenes that unfolded in the raw of nature.

Three Dog Day

The trip itinerary starts at Bozeman airport where you are picked up by the adventure bus! I would come to call it the magic bus as the days unfolded. Off to Gardiner where you settle into the Absaorka Lodge, your center of operations for the week. All of the rooms face a dramatic backdrop of rugged mountains peaks and mud flows that have been deposited on the edge of Yellowstone after numerous geological events. Dinner each night was catered at the Track Education Center just a short half block walk away, with an even better view. What makes this trip a cut above the rest, are the nightly discussions and presentations by leading experts and advocates for the Yellowstone experience.

Morning dawned on our first full day and we are up before the sunlight cracked the horizon to get into the park and glimpse any lingering activity from the aftermath of a night of peril and reward, depending on which side of the animal kingdom you are on. First stop, Blacktail Deer Plateau for a scan of the horizon and morning coffee. The day was overcast but the scene was spectacular with snow covered land in every direction. No wolves to be seen, but I thought I heard a howl while I was away from the group off in the far distance. Was this my first howl in the wild, or was it coyotes? When I do hear a confirmed howl, I will know.
One of the local sayings is 'three dog day'. This refers to the three canid species that occupy the Northern tier. Wolf, coyote and fox. It would be a stroke of luck to see all three on the first day, however, it started off promisingly when we got to Lamar Valley as a red fox was crossing the valley a fair distance away as we watched and snapped some pictures. And then just a short hop up the road to the Lamar Valley Buffalo Ranch, up on the ridge crest was three of the Lamar Valley pack wolves having a morning siesta. Looking thru the scopes, it reminded me of our malamute's at home sprawled all over the living room floor! Would we hit the canid jackpot? We set up and intently observed the wolves while having breakfast, watching their lethargic behavior and enjoying every minute of it. Next stop was Silver Gate and the home of Dan Hartman owner and wildlife photographer of Wildlife Along the Rockies. As we traveled thru Soda Butte Canyon, Nathan pulled over to see if there was any scavenging on a bison that had dropped dead a few days ago. To our surprise, the three dog day was upon us. There settled on the carcass was a wile coyote! We were treated to the Lamar Valley pack at play upon our return to Gardiner for dinner and the night.


Red Fox at Lamar Valley	Lamar Valley Pack at Rest	Coyote at Soda Butte	Lamar Valley Pack at Play

Dan's gallery is tucked in right off route 212 as you exit the Northeast entrance of the park. You can't miss the sign and he has a fantastic selection of unique wildlife pictures that only local knowledge combined with photographic skill can capture. Dan is the go-to wildlife locator for many of the wolf and Yellowstone specials you see on TV and in the DVD catalogs. His gallery and house are situated so you can browse his selections and shoot photos of an explosion of wild birds right out the window. There is also a Pine Marten family close by that peeks in every once in a while. If you go, do not miss it.


Wildlife Gallery	Pine Martin	Clark's Nutcracker	Hairy Woodpecker	Stellar Jay

One of the features of trips with Nathan and Linda is that they have a circle of connections with some of the premier wolf biologists and knowledgeable Yellowstone guides that are invited to have dinner and speak to you every night. For our first night, Daniel Stahler, a National Park Service Biologist with the Yellowstone Wolf Project and a PhD candidate at UCLA studying genetics and ecology lectured on recent genetic findings about the wolves of Yellowstone, which he will be publishing shortly. We were sworn to an oath of silence. Daniel is also reported to be one of the notorious Yellowstone Sage Smudgers, but we will leave that for another time.

Den, Chase and a Two Dog Day

After an action packed first day, we all arose with a great sense of anticipation and were eager to get back in the park and surround ourselves with the call of the wild. Breakfast break was at a lookout over Hellsroaring Canyon trying to spot the Blacktail pack and catch a bit of sunrise. No sightings, so off we went to Lamar Valley as the intelligence was coming in that the Lamar Valley pack had been spotted. Fisherman turnout was already bustling with wolf watchers and scopes trained on the eastern side of Specimen Ridge as we approached.
The pack started to move towards Slough Creek and we turned around to find a vantage point back down the road. What was interesting is they were moving along the border of their territory that backed up/crossed into the Agate pack range. A lot of sniffing and marking was going on once over the ridge and the speculation was rising that with the Agate pack close by we just might see some pack to pack interaction. After a short while the Lamar Valley pack looked to have completed their wolf business and swiftly went back over the ridge into Lamar territory. I was impressed at the speed at which they could move, given the heavy snow conditions.

Our treat for the day was to snowshoe to an abandoned wolf den to get a glimpse of one of the first wolf homes following the reintroduction. Linda had spent many days and nights watching over this den as part of her thesis work from a knoll on the other side of the road, with a commanding view of the valley. She told us the story of an early wolf mother who quickly realized that the den location close to the road was not ideal, as word had spread and by six in the morning the road was lined with over a 100 people trying to get a glimpse. She moved the den up the side of the ridge but was still not comfortable. At one point it was thought she had gone up to the top of the ridge and out of range of the road and humans. However, it became apparent that she was going to move the pups (6) across Slough Creek to the pack's original den on the opposite side of the valley. The river was running hard that spring and the pups could not make it across, but her bond to the pack was so great that she left them on river bank, returning frequently to care for them. Unfortunately, nature does not have a soft spot for helpless wolf pups and they never made it to be united with their pack. It brings a tear to your eye, but it is how these powerful beings survive in a land that is unforgiving and pass on their genes for the next generation to survive and avoid the mistakes of the past.

As we were coming back from the den, one of our party members was watching the ridge above us and all of a sudden three members of the Agate pack were chasing an elk down off the ridge into a wooded area. As we were close to the base of the ridge, we could see the action unfold as the elk was grabbed by the hind legs, struggled loose only to be caught again as the scene moved under forest cover. At that point we did not see much more and hustled back to our roadside stop to set up scopes and catch what other action was happening. Our first glimpse of the Agate pack! As the afternoon wore on we started to see pack members laying up on the ridge with presumably full bellies from that day's hard work, returning downhill for seconds.

Another good day and we did spot coyotes in Lamar Valley up from where we spotted the first pack in the morning, so two dog day.


Wolf Den Talk	Wolf Den	Elk Take Down Tracks	Agate Pack at Rest	Coyotes at Lamar Valley

Our guest lectured for tonight was none other than Nathan Varley talking to us about the Northern Yellowstone Wolf Packs. You can find a lot more detail at Yellowstone Reports and keep up with daily dispatches from the field. A small subscription fee can open a whole new world to you!