Tag: wolves

Bobcat

Bobcats; Comparing Point Reyes National Seashore and Yellowstone National Park

Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore
A bobcat moves through grass hunting for gophers at Point Reyes National Seashore.

I go to Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) often.  It’s rare that I go and not see at least one bobcat.  I also spend a month or so almost every year in Yellowstone National Park (YNP).   Yet, I’ve never seen a bobcat there in spite of the fact that they do exist.  I’ve often wondered why.

According to my most recent copy (2013) of the annual “Yellowstone Resources and Issues Handbook,”  bobcat numbers in Yellowstone are “unknown, but generally widespread.”  It says their habitat is in rocky areas and conifer forests.  It goes on to say that they are rarely seen, with most reported sightings being in rocky areas and near rivers.  I’ve seen a few online photos of them along the Madison River in winter.  Given the lack of stated population numbers, I assume they haven’t been studied much in Yellowstone, if at all.  I’m not aware of any bobcat study in PRNS either.  I assume PRNS doesn’t know how many bobcats there are in PRNS, let alone what their habitat preferences are.

In any event, why do I see bobcats regularly in PRNS and never in YNP?  I can only speculate.  My best guess is that it has to do with where the bobcat finds itself in the predator pecking order in each place.  In YNP the bobcat has to worry about grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes and mountain lions.  In PRNS it’s just coyotes and a very, very few mountain lions.  This may cause them to stick to the forests and other good cover in YNP without the same pressure to do so in PRNS.  If so, this reminds me of what I found last spring photographing pumas (aka mountain lions) in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park (TDPNP) and adjacent private land. There are no bears or wolves in TDPNP.  There is a coyote-like predator there called the culpeo, but coyote-sized animals are no threat to a mountain lion.  While mountain lions in YNP stay in good cover, in TDPNP they feel no need to hide.  I saw 18 pumas in a week in TDPNP and all of them were in open areas – like the bobcats in PRNS.

Wolf

Wolf, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of one of two females of what is left of the Lamar Canyon Pack.
Black Female Wolf, Lamar Valley

This is one of only three wolves that remain in the Lamar Valley.  At one time there were over 30 wolves in the Lamar.  Wolf numbers are down throughout the park due to various factors such as wolves killing other wolves and humans shooting wolves when they move outside park boundaries.

Coyote, Wolf

Coyotes and Wolves, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a coyote pausing above the Gardner River.
Still Sporting a Winter Coat

I have hardly seen any coyotes or wolves this spring.  Today was a good start in correcting that.  The first thing I saw to photograph was a pair of coyotes moving down from the Mammoth area toward the Gardner River below.

Photo of a wolf pausing near Blacktail Ponds.
Blacktail Pack Wolf

Not long after that I saw two wolves crossing the Blacktail Ponds area and headed my way.  Both wore collars.  Unfortunately, they changed direction and this photo is as close as I got to either of them.    As of December 2012, there were only 79 wolves in the park.   The highest count was 171 in 2007.  Ten wolves which lived in Yellowstone most of the time were shot in the first hunting seasons outside the park.  Most were shot within a mile or two of the park.  Eight of the ten were wearing radio collars.  Anyone with radio telemetry can now find wolves with the radio telemetry and shoot them when they leave the park which it seems people are doing.

While I haven’t seen many coyotes or wolves, I have seen quite a few red foxes which I used to hardly ever see.

Other Bird

Yellow-headed Blackbird, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a male yellow-headed blackbird singing for a mate.
Singing for a Mate

When I drove out to the Lamar Valley each day this past May I would usually check out the road to the Slough Creek campground.  It’s a good drive for finding bison, pronghorns and coyotes in the spring.  It’s also a prime area for wolves and grizzlies.  I would often see this male yellow-headed blackbird as I drove past a small marshy area along the road.

Yellow-heads are a little smaller than their red-winged cousins and not as common.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before in Yellowstone.  I know I’ve never photographed one there before.

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane near Blacktail Pond, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a sandhill crane.
A Sandhill Crane Near Blacktail Ponds

When people think of the wildlife in Yellowstone they think of wolves, bears, especially grizzlies, and elk.  But there are lots of other critters.  You can probably think of many others, but you may not put the sandhill crane on your list.  Yet there are quite a few to be seen there.  This crane was with a couple of others near Blacktail Pond.  One other large bird I’m used to seeing here is the trumpeter swan.  However, I haven’t seen any this trip and don’t recall if I saw any in my other recent trips.

Uncategorized

Any Day in Yellowstone …

Photo of two black bear cubs.
“Put Yer Dukes Up.”

Any day in Yellowstone is a good day.  That is especially true in the spring.  In the six days I’ve been here I’ve seen numerous bears and several wolves.  Black bears are so numerous that I’ve stopped keeping track of sighting them.  I photographed the spring cubs above the first day.  I haven’t seen nearly as many grizzlies, but I’ve seen two sows with one cub each and a few other adults.  They tend to be much farther away than black bears.

It’s a little early for babies, other than bison calves and bear cubs, but a newborn elk calf was in hiding just inside the Roosevelt gate this afternoon.  I’ve been looking for them and bighorn lambs and pronghorn fawns.  News of the elk calf will get me looking for babies more intently.  The elk calves and pronghorn fawns stay hidden most of the time for the first week or so, but the bighorn lambs can keep up with their mothers the day of birth as well as the bison calves.  Deer fawns arrive about a month later.

I’ve had my eyes peeled for badgers, but haven’t seen any yet.  I was telling a guy that two days ago and he told me he photographed three of them earlier that day.  Needless to say,  I’m looking harder now.  I got really close to a sandhill crane today.  I’ve also been photographing a lot of marmots.    Like I said, any day is good in Yellowstone.

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Second Anniversity of My Blog

Two years ago this month I started this blog with a trip to Yellowstone.  It seems fitting that I am in Yellowstone now.  This is my favorite time to be in Yellowstone.  I saw 14 black bears today, not counting repeats.  Four were spring cubs.  No grizzlies yet though.

Unfortunately, my laptop is has something wrong with it.  Not a good sign and not a good time for this to happen.

Below is a photo of what is probably Yellowstone’s most famous area from a wildlife standpoint.  The photo shows a small part of the west end of the Lamar Valley.  The valley is sometimes referred to as America’s Serengeti because of the sweeping vistas showing large numbers of wildlife.  Numerous bison are visible. There may be some smaller animals in there as well.  The valley has been the best place to spot wolves among other things.

Hopefully, this laptop will remain alive until my trip ends.

Bison Herd Across the Lamar River
The Lamar Valley, America’s Serengeti