Up at five, and the van picked us up at six, before sunrise.
We drove to the place where we saw the wolves yesterday, but there was no sign.
We drove down the road and saw a woman on the side of the road. She said there was a fresh kill close to the road. She said she had seen a black wolf nearby, but it was out of view now.
There was first one coyote working away on it, then two, and finally three.
Then we heard a wolf howl.
One by one the coyote grabbed some meat and headed up the hill, across the road, and were gone.
We waited a little to see if the wolf would show up, but nothing happened. So we headed further into the park – we might have been the reason they weren’t approaching.
Matt had heard of a wolf sighting that may or may not still be visible, so we drove that way.
A large crowd had gathered – they were watching the Molly pack, who usually lived deep in the park away from roads, so it was rare to see them. (They are also the pack that regularly hunts buffalo, rather than elk.) The wolves were going in and out of the trees, so we could occasionally see them.
They were heading west, so we drove back down the road and waited for them. They appeared briefly – nine wolves walking single file.
Gallery photos from Matt’s phone.
Then they disappeared again. We headed down the road to a place where everyone thought they would be visible. We jumped out, set up scopes, and waited.
Rick was there! I told him how much I enjoyed his books. He said that there was one young female in the Molly pack who was on her first heat, and didn’t understand why all the males were bugging her. “She needs to go hang out with the older females, who would tell her just to bit them on the butt to let her alone.”
Finally, four wolves appeared. They socialized a little, them lay down.
We drove back towards Gardiner, stopping at a scenic overlook for lunch.
We stopped at a overlook where someone earlier had seen a bear and her cubs emerge. We could easily see the den, but only got a glimpse of fur.
We stopped at the overlook where we had seen the coyotes at the kill earlier, and there was nothing remaining – just some ravens picking over traces. We were impressed by the efficiency of the predators, but later heard that the park service dragged the body away, since it was too close to the road.
At Monmouth Hot Springs, Matt knew of a location of a Great Horned Owl nest, so we walked over to see.. We found one nestled deep in the tree. Matt said it was probably the female, who stays close to the nest.
Back to Gardiner. We had a few hours to explore. I went to several gift shops, but couldn’t find any clothing with a wolf on it. (Buffalo, sure. Elk, of course. But no wolf.)
After dinner, we got a lecture from, Jeremy, a member of the Yellowstone Wolf Project, about the reintroduction of wolves in the park, how they are tracked, some things they have learned, and a brief dip into the politics of wolf management.