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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
Wolf

Season’s Greetings from Yellowstone National Park

Photo of wolf howling.
Call of the Wild

I put a “Season’s Greetings” at the end of the elk post yesterday.  After I posted it I decided I needed to come up with something more “Christmas-like” and I removed the holiday greeting.  Here’s what I came up with.

I photographed this wolf in the Lamar Valley in February of 2008.  I’m not sure, but it may have been #302M, also known as “Casanova,” who died in October of 2009.    He was the star of Bob Landis’ film, “In the Valley of the Wolves.”

Happy Holidays.

Rocky Mountain Elk

Big Bull Elk, Yellowstone National Park

Dominant Bull
Dominant Bull

This is the largest bull elk I saw this fall in Yellowstone.  He and his harem were located south of Swan Lake.   There seems to be something wrong with his right eye.  He may be blind in that eye.  Bulls suffer many injuries during the rut.  This past fall I saw several bulls limping due to shoulder injuries.  One Yellowstone bull was famous for attacking  cars.   He was know by his ear tag as #6.  For more about him and his demise click here.

I mentioned in an earlier blog post that the rut seemed slow to me this past September in Yellowstone and wondered if it was due to weather that seemed warmer than usual for that time of year.  There may have been other factors.  I just found an article in the Huffington Post from last January that reported that the Yellowstone herd was down about 25% from the previous year due to several possible factors, including weather, increased hunting success due to November snow storms that pushed more elk than usual out of the park during the hunting season, and wolves.  Less accurate counting may have also been a factor.

Speaking of elk, I just finished upgrading the Rocky Mountain Elk Portfolio on my website.  You can see that portfolio here.

Pronghorn

Pronghorn Buck in the Rut

A photo of a pronghorn facing the camera.
Pronghorn Buck, Yellowstone National Park

I’m still working on upgrading the images on my website.  I’ve finished the mammals that start with a “B” (six species) and jumped ahead a bit to look at the pronghorn images from my trip to Yellowstone this past September.  The pronghorn rut was underway.  This buck was curious about me and came in for a closer look.

Bison

Bull Bison, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of bull bison standing on trail.
“Sure, I’ll get off the trail when you get here.”

Bison are docile creatures and seem fairly harmless.  However, they injure more people in Yellowstone each year than all the other species combined.

Photo showing full body profile of bison bull.
Buffalo Nickel Pose

I’m still upgrading all the images on my website.  I just finished the bison portfolio.  All the “B” mammals are done, except bobcats.  To go to my website click here.