A dun-and-grey colored wolf fed on the carcass, probably an elk, not much more than 60 yards from the road in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park. He was oblivious at first to the gathering crowd, with binoculars, spotting scopes, telephoto lenses on cameras, tripods and video setups.
As the crowd increased, I think he grew a little uncomfortable and moved away, parallel to the road before crossing it between the parked cars and additional crowds of gawkers. Through my binoculars I could see his muzzle was bloodied from the feeding, and he had that certain aura about him that lets you know instantly how different wolves are from any dog - or other wild creature.
Our very lucky sighting came as we made our way on May 16 to Mammoth Hot Springs, on the park's north end, for a Wolf and Bear seminar put on by the Yellowstone Association - it was fairly expensive, but it included lodging and some meals.
Over the next four days, we would see and learn more about wolves, bears and other park inhabitants than ever before. I decided early on to keep a brief journal to share with YourHub.com readers, and I have a few pictures too.
I didn't take any of this particular wolf - while as close as we would get to one, he was far enough that the small digital camera picture would not have been very good - and I was too focused just viewing him through the new binoculars I'd purchased to look away to grab a camera.
The Yellowstone Association Institute
http://www.yellowstoneassociation.org/institute/about.aspxholds many such programs through the year, and we were fortunate to find two slots open for this 12-person program. Our leader and guide was Institute wildlife biologist Brad Bulin, an enthusiastic expert with a ready sense of humor , a broad knowledge of wildlife and a very keen eye for spotting them.
On our first day, with everyone having arrived for orientation the prior evening, we didn't start very early - 8 a.m. The group of twelve included three couples from Colorado, and couples from California, Pennsylvania and Kansas. The group included one biologist and his wife as well as other professionals, all with a background in or high degree of interest in the natural sciences.
We ate breakfast on the bus, and toured areas where wolves and bears might be seen, enroute spotting a rare trumpeter swan, sandhills cranes, beaver ponds, elk, mule deer and bison. Our first bear sighting of the day was a cinnamon-colored black bear browsing and ambling 150 yards off the road. We sighted many elk in the Lamar Valley while searching for the big guys - grizzly bears - but only a lone coyote was seen.
We headed east toward Soda Butte Creek for lunch and a discussion of the influence of the reintroduction of wolves to the park on such diverse life as elk, beaver and willow; how the absence of one predator affects many other members of this web of existence.
Basically, as I understand it, the absence of wolves for decades leads to overpopulation and over browsing by elk, which can diminish the amount of willow, aspen and cottonwood for animals like beavers.
Brad also pointed out a 'browse line' on some area trees - even pines, which are very hard to digest, indicating a dearth of winter food for the elk.
We did lots of visual surveying, and watched a bald eagle being harassed by a hawk, before moving on to the most interesting event of the tour - though it wasn't planned that way.
Brad took us for a hillside hike where we viewed a mostly complete elk skeleton, and we learned some comparative anatomy while Brad explained the process of trying to determine what had killed the large animal, which was discovered early in the year.
We learned this one had probably died from malnutrition over winter. The large rack had been cut up by park staff to avoid poachers stealing it. Jim Higday, a biologist with the group also noted the elk's 'bugler teeth' were also missing from its skull, often sought by poachers because they are mostly ivory.
As we move downhill back toward the bus, sharp-eyed Brad spotted a very large bull bison moving down from the top of the ridge toward us, and two other bulls running away from him. He appeared to be enraged, and Brad urged us to get together in a large group for safety and to move quickly to the bus.
As it careeneddown the hill, it crashed into the ground at the bottom, pawed the dirt angrily, dashed its horns into the ground side-to-side, rolled and then sprang to its feet and charged at us. We jumped onto the bus from front and back as it raced alongside, then charged a car in the roadway. The wide-eyed driver threw his vehicle into reverse and quickly backed up twenty feet or more to get out of the way. The big bull (their heads alone can weigh 400 pounds) ran off the road, rolled again and dashed its horns repeatedly into the ground before storming off toward a streamed pasture.
We later conjectured what may have enraged this bison, coming up with possibilities like being tormented by a swarm of insects, or even the fact that a 3.8 earthquake occurred not too long after our experience. In reality, we'll never know. Brad termed it 'a close call,' and said he thought it was going to charge into his driver's-side door.
We continued on our wildlife viewing along the majestic Yellowstone River, spotting occupied Osprey nests on the steep cliff-face hundreds of feet above the river. We headed back through Lamar Valley and watched as the same cinnamon-colored bear we saw in the morning cavort and wrestlewith a black, black bear and share a carcass about 150 yards off the road - far enough that they exhibited entirely natural behavior, which Brad thought might be pre-breeding period antics.
We returned to Mammoth Hot Springs and dinner and retired to read a little in our cabin before sleeping. Quite a first day for our seminar group.