More Yellowstone

Today, we start with a young elk trying to hide in the tall grass, curious as to what I was doing, then to another elk who has just started to re-grow his antlers. Growing at 1.5 inches per day, he should have a full rack within a month or two. The finish is velvet but as his antlers get fully grown he starts to rub them on trees to remove the velvet and also we lose some bark from the trees. Do you like pronghorn or antelope - he is the fastest animal on the planet with the exception of the cheetah. The wolves -we'll start with a gray wolf who was in the same area as the black wolf, near a carcass. The black wolf is #480 who you saw a couple days ago with the bison,he's also Casanova's brother. The last picture he was howling. Note sure if he was calling some of his buddies, if he had smelled the carcass, or just wanted to brag.

When you read this, Marty and I will be on our way back to Yellowstone for another day in the park. See you later

Sights you don't expect in Yellowstone

Driving through Yellowstone in the spring, you find lakes with more water in them than you see the rest of the year. But did you expect to see a swan in a lake in Yellowstone. We've all seen the Mountain Bluebird, but how many times have you seen his wife, and in Yellowstone. This beautiful lady was flying around Mammoth Hot Springs with her boyfriend. Just around the corner from her was this magpie. I've been trying to get a good picture of a magpie for over a year, I think I finally succeeded. And look who was trying to hide from me, this ground squirrel. Tomorrow will be wolf and elk.

A hike to an old bear/wolf den

The day I took these pictures we hiked to the sight of an old den. Initially, it had been a bear den and after the wolves were re introduced into Yellowstone, a wolf took possession for a few years. I had expected to hike into the mountains to find the den, but it was just at the edge of some trees. As we have hiked in Yellowstone over the past year, I was looking forward to more hikes off the road until I saw where the den was. I then changed my mind about hiking in unknown territory during the spring. At one time during our hike, I looked around to find Marty sitting on a log. We then arrived at the den site, nothing formal, no welcome signs, just a hole in the ground, large enough for a mama and her litter.

As we headed back across the meadow, I stopped behind a rock to relieve myself and as I looked back toward the den, guess what I saw? A bear headed in the direction of the den we had just visited. I took this picture and yelled at the rest of the group to tell them about the bear.

Finally, Ashea, our guide, came across an elk antler, which I have titled, Clint's new belt buckle. The 2008 antlers have all been deposited somewhere and the males are all growing new ones at the rate of 1 1/2 inches per day. Ultimately, the male that lost this antler will have 2 new ones, at least this big if not bigger. An antler like Ashea is holding could weigh as much as 15 pounds. If you have seen my belt buckle, all I would have to do to get a new one, is to saw off the end at the left side of the picture. Unfortunately, you cannot remove anything from the park, so if I want a new elk horn belt buckle, I'll have to buy one in a store.

Yellowstone was great

We actually spent 5 days in Yellowstone National Park. Our visit was primarily to the area between Mammoth Hot Springs and Cooke City. In addition to the seminar that we attended, we experienced the wolf migration into the area around Mammoth Hot Springs. At least one female has had a litter a pups within a mile of the city and the males have been observed in Mammoth looking for food. Everyone is concerned as to what will happen next. You may have read about this in your local paper.

If you have been to Yellowstone, you know that buffalo, bison, or tatonka, are a major item. You see them everywhere. I captured these pictures to update you on what's happening with them. There were a significant number of new calves that had just been born, this young calf was with its mother in the snow of which there was still quite a bit still on the ground. Buffalo's for a short distance can move very rapidly. I thought this made a great picture of this big bull acknowledging that he could go very rapidly if required, in fact he could exceed the speed limit for a short distance. Finally, I saw this wolf (he is #302's younger brother) by himself initially. He started to wonder across a large meadow - - at the end of the meadow was a buffalo. They started to converge on each other which peaked my interest. Ultimately they got close enough for this picture and after they posed for me they went their separate ways. More tomorrow.