Tag: yellowstone national park

Pronghorn

Cause of Pronghorn’s Wound; Yellowstone National Park

Photo of pronghorn doe that seems to have suffered some serious injury to her neck.
What happened to this pronghorn?

Only one person took a guess on what had happened to this pronghorn.  She guessed a bear.  A good guess.   I thought I’d get a few more people to venture a guess.  Maybe some were afraid to guess wrong.  That presumes I would be providing the answer to what happened though.  The fact of the matter is that I don’t know for sure what happened to her.  I do have my own guess though.  I think a golden eagle attacked this pronghorn.  Why?

First of all, golden eagles have been observed by credible sources (published reports by biologists) attacking and killing pronghorn adults and fawns.   The attach begins by the eagle chasing one or more pronghorns and landing on the back of one and riding it while digging its talons into the pronghorn’s back.  Most of the damage is caused by the talons, although their beaks can also inflict injury.  If you’d like to read some of these reports you can click here, here and here.

Second, someone took several photos of a golden eagle eating an adult pronghorn while riding on its back.  Based on the photos, I assume (and hope) it died shortly thereafter.  The pictures have appeared in various places on the internet.  One place to see the photos is here.  I should warn you that the photos are somewhat gruesome.  I was hesitant to link to the photos, but decided on balance to do so with the warning.  The wound to the pronghorn in the photos is in the same place as in my photo and that’s why I guess the wound is from a golden eagle.  Anything is possible though.  It could be from another animal or a vehicle or a barbed wire fence (or whatever).

She was feeding when I saw her so the attack was over by then.  I hope she survived.

Other Mammal

Uinta Ground Squirrel, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a Uinta ground squirrel.
On the Lookout

The Uinta ground squirrel is commonly seen in the sagebrush areas of Yellowstone.  It’s also seen in disturbed or heavily grazed grasslands and  developed areas.  The Soda Butte Creek Picnic Area has a lot of them.  While prohibited, I’m sure some people feed them there.  They not only eat grasses, forbs and mushrooms, but also insects and carrion (including road-killed members of their own species).

While not very high on visitors’ lists of “must see” animals, they are important to the Yellowstone ecosystem because they are an important prey species for smaller predators such as hawks, weasels, foxes, badgers and coyotes.  At about 12 inches in length and half a pound, they are a more substantial meal than a 2-ounce vole.

Photo of a red fox carrying a ground squirrel.
Headin’ Home

This red fox carried this ground squirrel parallel to the road for about a 1/4 mile before it headed away from the road.  It created its own little “bear jam.”  I assume it was heading back to a den with hungry kits.

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.

Song Bird

Mountain Bluebird, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a mountain bluebird on a sage plant.
Mountain Bluebird on Sage

Here is one of the many bluebirds I saw in Yellowstone recently.  I’ve added him and a few others to my website today.  You can see the them by clicking here and then using the right arrow on your keyboard.  You may need to click on the web page before you can use your right arrow to move to the next image.