A Bull Elk Responds to Another’s Call
It’s been quite warm here in Yellowstone so far and the elk rut seems a bit slow to me. This bull was seen near Seven Mile Bridge.
Tag: yellowstone national park
Bull Bison, Yellowstone National Park
This bull was one of many I saw yesterday in the Lamar Valley. It rained on and off which wetted down the hair on his face and made his eyes more visible.
Pronghorn Rut, Yellowstone National Park
I’m in Yellowstone. I came for the rut. It’s been quite warm and that may have slowed things down a bit.
This buck was busy defending his harem. I observed him for about an hour before sunset and he was kept busy by four other bucks. He chased them all away without a fight. It’s a bit like swatting flies though.
This buck was on a course which would bring him through the harem. He watched from a few hundred yards away and finally skirted around the above buck and his harem. I’m not sure why he didn’t act like the other bucks. Maybe he’d say he’s a lover, not a fighter. But that doesn’t work. In the pronghorn world, the only lovers are the fighters.
Badger Cubs at Play
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.
Mother Badger with Ground Squirrel
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.
Badger, Yellowstone National Park
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.
Yellow-bellied Marmot, Yellowstone National Park
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.
