Yellowstone: Of Wolves, Bears and Bison, Oh My!

NOTE: I'll start this blog entry by really encouraging you to read the narrative as the text explains what is happening in several of the situations/scenarios.  If you skip the text, you might wonder what exactly you're looking at.


Late June and early July found me escaping the crazy wedding schedule of June into the wilds of western Wyoming.  On my annual pilgrimage to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, I encountered wonderful imagery and wildlife.  For the first time ever, I captured good wolf photos, including a sequence where an entire pack dragged down a calf elk.  On a more somber note, while I cannot prove it, I truly believe that I shot photos of the sow grizzly and cubs involved in the death of a hiker in early July.  I shot the photos very close to where the incident happened, and it was of a sow grizzly with two older cubs (2nd year).  Enjoy the images below and let me know what you like/dislike/think.

Hayden Valley proved to be much more productive this year than the past few years.  The very first evening in the park, after setting up camp, we drove from Fishing Bridge north into Hayden Valley.  It didn't take long before I was absorbed by a massive bear jam.  I mounted the Sigmonster 300-800mm lens on my tripod and shot images for several minutes.  The bear below is the one I believe was involved with the death of a tourist only 2 days later.

Tourists are so foolish around grizzly bears.  I don't understand the mentality, but some apparently believe Yellowstone is just a glorified petting zoo.  While watching this bear, a group of several tourists approached her to within 50-60 yards, separated only by a little tongue of water in a pond.  Check out how in the image below she was totally locked onto them.  I wondered if I would be seeing a charge.

I have a love/hate relationship with wolves.  All politics aside, I believe environmentalists pushed through protection of an animal that is not endangered or even close to the brink of endangerment.  Over 40,000 of the predators roam Canada.  As a hunter, I hate what their presence has done to the great herds of elk and the many Moose in Wyoming.  The numbers have dropped dramatically.  That said, I love them as a photographer, wishing for close images at every foray into the park.  The previous 4 years have brought many wolf sightings for me, but at tremendous distances, where the wolves appeared no larger than ants, even with 40-50x magnification.  This trip finally changed that for me.

I came rolling into Hayden Valley from the north, and just as I left the trees along the Yellowstone River, I looked to my left across the river.  A large white wolf was walking down the far bank.  I veered into the immediate pullout and watched as it began swimming across the river.

As she began swimming across the river, three more wolves ran out of the timber along the river.  Two black wolves and one other gray wolf ran along the bank before the two black wolves began also swimming the river behind the lead white one, leaving the gray wolf to melt into the timber once again.

By this time, a crowd was gathering and my wife and mother-in-law had both exited the vehicle to watch.  Shouting a hasty, "I'll be back,"  I shot down the road in the obvious direction the wolves were swimming, intending to be in the right position to photograph them emerging from the water.  I veered over to the side and thus ensued a frantic dash for lens, camera body, tripod.  Mount camera, dash across road in front of other cars, throw up tripod and be ready.  It was all a blur, but I had timed it to perfection.  Within moments of being ready, the big white wolf (I would later learn she was the alpha female of the pack) appeared in the sage brush along the river.  Her gaze looked past me at something on the road (I was just off the road on her side) and then she proceeded to shake.  You can view that series of images below.

After a good shake, the smaller black wolf ran directly toward me before veering away at approximately 40 yards.  He was so close that I had to zoom the big Sigma lens all the way back to 300mm of magnification.  The alpha female followed and ran by me, all the while watching my every move.  By this time, just behind me on the road, a huge traffic jam had developed.  All three wolves crossed the road between cars and headed up the bank on the far side of the road in the direction of Pelican Valley.  I have included the alpha female image at full size to show a large, raw wound on her right rear leg, and also, with close inspection, you should be able to see her teats.  She had obviously been nursing pups.  Her eyes shown an amazing yellow color.

As the wolves topped the closest ridge near the road, they surprised a young spike bull elk who charged out into a large pond for protection.  The bull looked sick and weak, with ribs showing.  I was wishing for an attempt by the wolves to bring him down, but the water deterred them.  I would have to wait a few more days to watch them in action.

I'm not sure why completely, but I love the next image of the buffalo bull reflecting in the pond.  I was drawn to the somewhat mystical light and the frost on his head, as well as the steam/fog rising from the water.  I've got lots of buffalo images, but this one is different, and I really like it.

This black bear fed along Pebble Creek within a rock's throw of Pebble Creek Campground.  The second bear down slowly fed through a draw near Petrified Tree before walking logs through an old burn.  I got quite a kick out of watching him balance on the logs.  He walked from one to the next, avoiding the maze of deadfall below them.  The bottom bear waded through a pond while I was watching.

If you've never been there, hike along the south rim of the Yellowstone Canyon to Uncle Tom's overlook.  You'll descend 300 metal stairs that cling to a rock face until you arrive at the landing.  The lower falls plunges into a frothy torrent directly below.

Here a badger stops digging for a moment and watches me from a distance.

As I headed back to camp that evening, the backlit trees provided a stunning image!

One morning, I got up early and headed for Trout Lake to photograph the otters that always show up for the trout spawn.  They weren't there yet and the Rangers thought the spawn was 5-7 days delayed due to the long, cold spring Yellowstone endured.  The scenery was beautiful nonetheless and I enjoyed two hours of placid solitude.

After 4 nights in Yellowstone, I headed south for Jackson Hole and the Gros Ventre campground.  I would spend the next 4 days and nights in the shadow of the Tetons.

The first morning, I ventured forth to Antelope Flats, where despite it being July, the wildflowers were still at peak.  They are often done by the 20th or so of June.

After photographing the wildflowers and distant peaks, I began driving around looking for other subjects.  Before long I found myself along the Gros Ventre river watching the most adorable little marmot pups.  Their mother whistled at me repeatedly from much farther away, but my patience paid off, as after an hour of standing in one place, the little guys began to emerge from their rocky sanctuary.

  

 Other wildlife also appeared while I watched the marmots.

That evening, I headed for the Oxbow bend near Jackson Lake Dam.  My entire purpose was to locate and photograph either or both of the two sow grizzlies frequenting the area with this year's cubs.  Sow 399 has lived in the area most of her life, rearing at least two previous litters of cubs.  This year, at the age of 16, she had triplets.  Additionally, her daughter, sow 610, moved into the area she was raised with her own liter of two cubs.  I really wanted to encounter one of the bears with her cubs in a location where I could shoot quality photos.  It proved to be more difficult that I had hoped in the limited time I had.

As I neared the Oxbow, I encountered an obvious bear jam, although the only way to view sow 610 and her cubs was by climbing onto the roof of my Toyota Highlander.  Otherwise the willows hid her from view.  I was not alone in my efforts.  The middle photographer in this image looking to his left is renowned wildlife photographer Thomas Mangelson.

From the top of the Toyota, I lost a pint of blood to the mosquitoes, all while only catching glimpses of 610. I only got a couple of worthwhile images.  In the one below, I can't help but feel like she is smiling.

The next morning found me at the Oxbow by 5:30, just in time to watch her cross the road while I was still in my car.  Again, images were tough to come by as I watched her for over 2 hours until she disappeared in thicker willows along the river.  Disappointed in the lack of quality images, I'll just have to go back next year a little bit earlier in the summer.

After 610 disappeared into the willows, I dismounted my big lens and turned to drive back to camp. As I started to accelerate away from my parking spot, I noticed the swift and purposeful action of other photographers up the road from me. They swung their huge lenses 180 degrees to the opposite side of the road, towards a large grassy opening on Willow Flats. I knew something was up, so I floored it to get a better, quicker view. While the next images are not the greatest due to the distance and the rapid movement of my subjects and the fact that in the excitement, I forgot to switch my camera to predictive autofocus, I watched a pack of 5 wolves charge into a large herd of elk. For the next 3 minutes, they ran those elk in circles, finally cutting a calf out of the masses and dragging it down. The sequence of images is below.

Perhaps the most amazing portion of the entire sequence occurs after these photos end.  In the very last photo, you can see a cow elk in the left portion of the screen, coming from around the willow bushes.  She was not alone as an entire wall of cow elk came flying back at the wolves with hooves flailing.  They actually drove the wolves off the calf, which staggered to its feet and attempted to rejoin the herd.  It was too badly injured, though, and after a hasty retreat, the wolves made one last push and finally brought the calf down for good.  I was amazed at the team work and seeming fearless counter charge of the elk after the calf was taken down the first time.  It makes me wonder why they don't learn from that when attacked by the wolves and use their strength in numbers.


I'll finish up this rather lengthy post with a few miscellaneous images from the rest of the trip.  Hope you have enjoyed them.