This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
I checked this badger den for the better part of two weeks in May of 2009. For a couple of days one of the cubs was often seen with this bit of fur or skin in its mouth. I don’t think I ever saw them more than about 10 feet from the mouth of the den. Yet, a coyote managed to capture and kill one of the cubs. I don’t think they had learned to fear anything up to that point. Some of life’s lessons come at a steep price.
Several photographers, including myself, waited for an hour or more for this mother badger to return to her den. It was close to sundown when she returned with this live ground squirrel. She was moving through the sagebrush at a fast pace. The conversation going on got me distracted from what I was doing. I hadn’t increased the ISO as it got darker. The result was that I shot this at 1/320th of a second. The badger is just bordering on being blurred.
In the spring of 2009 this mother badger and her three cubs were very popular photo subjects in Yellowstone. Her den was fairly close to the road. She crossed the road often and I worried that she’d get hit. I don’t think she ever did get hit, at least at that den site, but an awful lot of wildlife is killed on Yellowstone’s roads each year.
One of the things I’ve noticed about myself at Yellowstone is that I no longer just focus on the species that are most sought after by photographers and other visitors. I’m thinking, of course, of things like bears and wolves. Oh, sure, they’re still at the top of my list, but I’m interested in all the animals now, including the rodents.
I photographed this marmot across the road from Sedge Bay. The rock outcroppings there hold a good population of marmots. I learned a lesson that day. Make that two lessons. I had stopped to shoot marmots and just grabbed my 500 lens and tripod. I left the 100-400 on another camera body in the truck. After shooting for a while this marmot turned its back to me, stood up and gave a warning call. Others chimed in. I didn’t have a clear line of sight to what they were upset about, but decided I had gotten what I wanted and hoisted the camera/tripod onto my shoulder and turned around to head back to my truck. It was then that I saw a black wolf walking midway between me and my truck which was parked about 40 to 50 feet away. It disappeared into some trees. Two mistakes. I should have looked in all directions when the marmots started calling and I should have brought the 100-400 with me. As I got to the truck I saw a white wolf heading into the trees going in the opposite direction of the black wolf. It had been the one behind the marmots. I followed it in the truck, but lost it. Next time I’ll be prepared. Yeah, right. I’ve said that before.
In the spring of 2009 and in the spring of 2010 I spent a lot of time observing baby animals in Yellowstone. They are all cute. But I grew especially fond of bison calves or, as they are also known, “red dogs.” They’re very photogenic. Find a bison herd in the spring or summer and stop and observe for a while. The interactions among the cows, yearlings and calves is very interesting. Plus, it doesn’t take long before one of the calves decides to run around for the sheer joy of it. To see an earlier post of a red dog running click here.
When I travel to Yellowstone I usually don’t leave it because the wildlife photo opportunities are so good. The next time I go to Yellowstone I’m going to break my habit and spend some time in Jackson Hole at the beginning or end of my trip. The wildlife photo opportunities aren’t as good (with the exception of moose), but the landscape photo opportunities are fantastic.
I photographed this wolf on a foggy morning a year ago at North Twin Lake. It had killed a cow elk the night before. The elk carcass is just outside the photo.
